Renal lymph protein in the rat
Hargens, A.R.; Tucker, B.J.; Blantz, R.C.
American Journal of Physiology 233(4): F269-F273
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9513 PMID: 910951 Document Number: 110839
Renal lymph and systemic (posterior) lymph were studied in hydropenic rats. As a consequence of the anatomical arrangement of collecting lymphatics near the kidney, mixed renal and systemic lymph tributaries are situated in such a way that sampling pure renal lymph is difficult. Pure renal lymph contains 1.0 .+-. 0.1 g/100 ml total protein with an albumin-to-globulin (A/G) ratio of 2.1 .+-. 0.1. Mixed renal and extrarenal lymphatic tributaries contain 3.3 .+-. 0.2 g/100 ml total protein with an A/G ratio of 1.8 .+-. 0.2. Corresponding values in the plasma are 4.9 .+-. 0.2 and 1.2 .+-. 0.1 g/100 ml, respectively. Previous studies in which the concentration of renal lymph protein was determined as 30-50% of that in plasma were probably in error due to contamination of renal samples by posterior lymph ducts. The amount of systemic and renal lymph mixing is highly variable from 1 animal to another. Renal lymph samples in carefully controlled and prepared Munich-Wistar rats contained a total protein uniformly 20% of that in plasma.