SUMMARY
Four methods of evaluating renal function were performed in 6 cats anesthetized with halothane in oxygen. Glomerular filtration rate (gfr) was measured simultaneously in each cat by exogenous creatinine clearance (ecc), bolus inulin clearance, and 99mTc(Sn)-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (dtpa) clearance determined by 2 different methods. In the first dtpa clearance method (dtpa-1), we measured radioactivity in serial blood specimens to construct plasma disappearance curves for calculation of gfr. In the second dtpa clearance method (dtpa-2), we used serial external head counts of radioactivity and a single blood specimen to construct plasma disappearance curves for calculation of gfr. Bolus inulin clearance was calculated from plasma disappearance curves using a 1-compartment open pharmacokinetic model (IN- 1) and a 2-compartment open pharmacokinetic model (IN- 2). Glomerular filtration rates were measured over 3 hours, for creatinine and dtpa methods, and over 4 hours for the inulin methods.
The gfr obtained with the reference method (ecc) was 2.56 ± 0.61 ml/min/kg of body weight (mean ± SD). Values for gfr determined by ecc and dtpa-1 were significantly correlated (r = 0.852; P ≤ 0.05). Correlation between ecc and dtpa 2 was not as good (r = 0.783; P ≤ 0.10), but the 2 dtpa methods significantly correlated with one another (r = 0.897; P ≤ 0.05). Regardless of the method of calculation, bolus inulin clearance was poorly correlated with ecc (IN-1: r = 0.538, P ≥ 0.10; in-2: r = 0.430, P ≥ 0.10) and dtpa-1 in-1: r = 0.601, P ≥ 0.10; in-2: r = 0.625, P ≥ 0.10). The 2 methods of calculating inulin clearance were highly correlated (r = 0.927; P ≤ 0.01). The dtpa clearance calculated from directly measured plasma disappearance curves (dtpa-1) compared favorably with ecc as an estimate of gfr and appears to be a safe, reliable, and less invasive method of determining gfr in cats.
