The Renal Blood Flow 83 



We have used the pyrogen method of producing renal 

 hyperemia to examine the question of whether or not there 

 are any inactive glomeruH or tubules in the normal or diseased 

 kidney. Since the measurements of glucose-Tm and diodrast- 

 Tm depend upon saturation methods, they are, as one might 

 expect, very sensitive to temperature. Our available data 

 indicate that the temperature coefficients of the reabsorptive 

 and excretory processes in the tubules have a value of approxi- 

 mately 10 per cent per degree. It is desirable, therefore, to 

 avoid any increase in body temperature during the measure- 

 ment of glucose-Tm or diodrast-Tm, and this we have ac- 

 complished by the administration of amidopyrine prior to 

 the administration of pyrogen. It is interesting that the ami- 

 dopryine blocks not only the fever, but also the rise in blood 

 pressure, the chill, nausea, and apparently most of the sub- 

 jective symptoms, without blocking the renal hyperemia. 



The action of adrenin and of pyrogen show that the 

 renal blood flow can be decreased and increased through a 

 considerable range of magnitude. It was our naive supposi- 

 tion that anesthetic section of the renal nerves would produce 

 renal hyperemia by cutting off tonic vasoconstrictor impulses 

 from the central nervous system. However, this expectation 

 proved to be in error. In a recently completed series of in- 

 vestigations on normal subjects with high spinal anesthesia^^ 

 it has been demonstrated that anesthesia adequate to block 

 the reflex vasomotor responses has no significant effect upon 

 the renal blood flow and we have concluded that when a 

 subject is in the truly basal condition, i.e., horizontal and 

 emotionally at ease, there are no tonic vasomotor impulses 

 going to the kidney. The evidence points strongly to the con- 

 clusion that under these basal conditions the renal blood flow 



