EVALUATION OF LASER-DOPPLER FLOWMETRY TO ASSESS CYCLOSPORINE-A-INDUCED IMPAIRMENT OF RENAL BLOOD-FLOW

Cyclosporine A (CyA)-induced nephrotoxicity is a well-known complicati on of this potent immunosuppressive drug. It is caused by an elevation in renovascular resistance and impairment of renal blood how. Current ly, one of the principal experimental settings to assess renal hemodyn amics has been using the in vivo fluorescent videomicroscopy (IVFV) me thod on hydronephrotic rat kidneys, which is expensive, time-consuming , not physiological, and not applicable to humans, In the present pape r we have been able to confirm our working hypothesis that laser Doppl er flowmetry (LDF) is a valuable tool for assessing microcirculatory c hanges in the rat kidney during CyA administration. Total subcapsular blood how decreased to approximately 70% of baseline values (P < 0.05) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) increased initially to 113% of basel ine values (P < 0.05) compared to only minor changes for cremophor (ca rrier substance) or no changes for sodium chloride solution 0.9%. LDF provides an easy and rapid technique and its major advantage is the po tential use in assessing microcirculatory changes after kidney transpl ants in humans. (C) 1998 Academic Press.