COMPENSATORY RENAL HYPERTROPHY IN FETAL LAMBS

Compensatory renal hypertrophy was studied in fetal lambs during midgestation. Functional adaptation was correlated with anatomical and biochemical changes by measuring glomerular filtration and clearance of para-amino hippurate (PAH). Normal intrauterine body growth and kidney growth by changes in RNA and DNA over a 72-h period were studied in twin fetuses. Seventy-two hours after left uninephrectomy in single fetuses, there was a significant increase in weight of the renoprival right kidney as well as a significant increase in renal cortical content of RNA and DNA. The rate of increase in RNA was greater than the increase in DNA. An increase in renal function parallels renal hypertrophy in fetal lambs.