Ontogeny of rabbit proximal tubule urea permeability

Urea transport in the proximal tubule is passive and is dependent on the epithelial permeability. The present study examined the maturation of urea permeability (P_urea) in in vitro perfused proximal convoluted tubules (PCT) and basolateral membrane vesicles (BLMV) from rabbit renal cortex. Urea transport was lower in neonatal than adult PCT at both 37 and 25°C. The PCT P_urea was also lower in the neonates than the adults (37°C: 45.4 ± 10.8 vs. 88.5 ± 15.2 × 10^-6 cm/s, P < 0.05; 25°C: 28.5 ± 6.9 vs. 55.3 ± 10.4 × 10^-6 cm/s; P < 0.05). The activation energy for PCT P_urea was not different between the neonatal and adult groups. BLMV P_urea was determined by measuring vesicle shrinkage, due to efflux of urea, using a stop-flow instrument. Neonatal BLMV P_urea was not different from adult BLMV P_urea at 37°C [1.14 ± 0.05 × 10^-6 vs. 1.25 ± 0.05 × 10^-6 cm/s; P = not significant (NS)] or 25°C (0.94 ± 0.06 vs. 1.05 ± 0.10 × 10^-6 cm/s; P = NS). There was no effect of 250 μM phloretin, an inhibitor of the urea transporter, on P_urea in either adult or neonatal BLMV. The activation energy for urea diffusion was also identical in the neonatal and adult BLMV. These findings in the BLMV are in contrast to the brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMV) where we have previously demonstrated that urea transport is lower in the neonate than the adult. Urea transport is lower in the neonatal proximal tubule than the adult. This is due to a lower rate of apical membrane urea transport, whereas basolateral urea transport is the same in neonates and adults. The lower P_urea in neonatal proximal tubules may play a role in overall urea excretion and in developing and maintaining a high medullary urea concentration and thus in the ability to concentrate the urine during renal maturation.