THE EFFECT OF ACUTE AND CHRONIC ALCOHOL ADMINISTRATION ON RENAL HEMODYNAMICS AND MONOVALENT ION EXCRETION

¹ Alcohol and Drug Research Center, Tennessee Psychistric Hospital and institute, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Tennessee Medical Units, Memphis, Tennessee

The time-dependent effects of acute alcohol administration (3 g/kg) and the cumulative effects of a 7-day administration of alcohol (3 g/kg/day) on renal function in the dog were investigated. In comparison to an equi-volumetric administration of water, the alcohol treatment produced elevations in glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow at 10 and 18 hours after the acute dosage and after the chronic treatment. At 26 hours after the acute and after the chronic administration, the filtration fraction was significantly elevated. The percent tubular reabsorption of sodium showed an increasing trend during the acute and chronic administrations, attaining significance at 26 hours after the acute treatment. Potassium excretion was significantly increased at 18 hours after the acute administration while chloride excretion was not significantly altered by either acute or chronic ethanol treatment. The results suggest that acute or chronic alcohol administration produces renal vasodilation. Furthermore, the sodium retention after the acute treatment appeared to be dependent upon an increased potassium excretion whereas the increased reabsorption after chronic dosage may have been a result of an increased proximal removal of reabsorbate.