RENAL HEMODYNAMIC-EFFECTS OF LOVASTATIN IN A RENAL ABLATION MODEL

Objectives. Patients with renal mass reduction of more than 50% are at increased risk for progressive renal failure. Lipid-lowering agents h ave been shown to preserve renal function in various models of chronic renal failure. This study was performed to evaluate the hemodynamic e ffects of lovastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-meth-ylglutaryl-coenzyme A reducta se inhibitor, in the remnant kidney model. Methods. Two groups of anim als were studied. Group 1 (n = 9) served as controls and group 2 (n = 14) received lovastatin, 15 mg/kg/day orally, for 2 weeks after renal ablation. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR, inulin clearance), renal bl ood flow (RBF, ultrasonic flow probe), and 24-hour protein excretion w ere measured in anesthetized rats. Results. Two weeks after renal abla tion, GFR was 0.28 +/- 0.09 mL/min/gkw (gram kidney weight) in group 1 , whereas in group 2, lovastatin preserved GFR at 0.58 +/- 0.3 mL/min/ gkw (P < 0.05). RBF in group 1 was 1.2 +/- 0.2 mL/min/gkw and increase d to 2.1 +/- 0.4 mL/min/gkw in group 2 (P <0.05), representing a 43% i ncrease. Protein excretion decreased significantly to 13 +/- 1.7 mg/24 hr in group 2. The lovastatin-treated group had a lower serum cholest erol (59 +/- 3 mg/dL versus 71 +/- 2 mg/dL, P <0.05), but serum trigly ceride levels were not different between the two groups. Conclusions. Lovastatin preserves renal function in a renal ablation model after 2 weeks of treatment. It specifically increased total RBF. Therefore, in addition to its known cholesterol lowering effect, lovastatin also ha s the direct renal hemodynamic effect of increasing RBF and maintainin g GFR. Copyright 1996 by Elsevier Science Inc.