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Furosemide causes not only natriuresis, but a rapid (5-10 min) increase in plasma renin activity. The latter has been attributed both to the release of eicosanoids from renal blood vessels and to changes in sodium delivery to the macula densa. Drugs like indomethacin abolish the renin increment and could potentially affect both mechanisms: they inhibit cyclooxygenase but could also compete with furosemide for transport into the tubular lumen, reducing furosemide concentration at its site of action. We studied the effects of probenecid, a weak acid without cyclooxygenase activity, on the responses to furosemide in 20 healthy young men. Each received placebo and low (1000 mg/d) or high (2000 mg/d) doses of probenecid for one week in double-blind, randomized trials, crossover fashion. One hour after the last dose, all participants were given furosemide 0.5 mg/kg intravenously. Probenecid reduced serum uric acid in a dose-dependent manner but did not change platelet thromboxane B2 production. Similarly, there was no change in urine excretion rates of thromboxane B2 or 6ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha, or in baseline or stimulated plasma renin activity. The total natriuresis in 4 h was also unchanged. By contrast, the sodium excretion rate in the first 30 min was reduced after both probenecid regimens while that of later periods was increased. These findings are consistent with the proposed effect of probenecid as reducing furosemide secretion in the proximal tubule, which reduces its concentration at the lumenal surface of the thick ascending limb of Henle's loop, but also prevents its excretion from the body.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

It has been suggested that the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, sulindac, selectively spares renal prostaglandin synthesis. We compared the effect of placebo and sulindac 300 mg daily for one week on furosemide-stimulated renal prostaglandin synthesis in twelve healthy young men. Sulindac reduced serum thromboxane B2, a measure of platelet thromboxane A2 production, from 21 +/- 3.9 to 10.9 +/- 2.2 ng/ml (p less than 0.01) but had no effect on body weight, blood pressure or serum creatinine. Sulindac did, however, decrease the natriuretic effect of intravenous furosemide, and reduced the increment in plasma renin activity. The excretion rates of 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha and thromboxane B2 in urine were reduced by 34 and 27% respectively (p less than 0.001 for both). The reduced excretion rate was particularly prominent in the first ten minutes after furosemide injection. While these decreases are less marked than those seen with indomethacin, the reduction in platelet thromboxane A2 production is also of lesser degree. We conclude that, in the dose used, sulindac is a less potent inhibitor of cyclo-oxygenase than indomethacin and has no selective renal sparing effect.

We assessed the effects of low-dose aspirin (0.5 and 15 mg/kg/d) on renal prostaglandin synthesis and action in healthy volunteers using intravenous furosemide as a stimulus. Inhibition of platelet cyclo-oxygenase was assessed by changes in serum thromboxane B2 (TXB2) level. After one week of treatment, ten healthy subjects did not show any change in weight, blood pressure, or diuretic and natriuretic responses to furosemide with either dose of aspirin. Serum TXB2 level was reduced to 3% of control by aspirin 0.5 mg/kg/d and to 0.1% by the higher dose. In contrast, urine excretion of TXB2 was only reduced to 68% and 51% of the placebo value, whereas 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (6kPGF1 alpha) excretion was not decreased by either dose. Furosemide produced a transient increase in excretion rates of TXB2 and 6kPGF1 alpha that was of lesser duration than the diuretic response. These transient increases were slightly reduced by aspirin. Baseline plasma renin activity was not affected by either dose of aspirin. The brisk increment in plasma renin activity seen ten minutes after furosemide, as well as later values (30 and 240 min) were not changed by aspirin. We conclude that chronic low-dose aspirin can profoundly affect platelet PG production without affecting stimulated renal PGI2 production or plasma renin activity. There is a modest reduction in urine TXB2 excretion that is consistent with a primarily renal source of this metabolite.

Furosemide increases the synthesis of two major renal eicosanoids, prostacyclin (PGI2) and thromboxane A2 (TXA2), by stimulating the release of arachidonic acid which in turn is metabolized to PGG2/PGH2, then to PGI2 and TXA2. PGI2 may mediate, in part, the early increment in plasma renin activity (PRA) after furosemide. We hypothesized that thromboxane synthetase inhibition should direct prostaglandin endoperoxide metabolism toward PGI2, thereby enhancing the effects of furosemide on renin release. Furosemide (2.0 mg . kg-1 i.v.) was injected into Sprague-Dawley rats pretreated either with vehicle or with U-63,557A (a thromboxane synthetase inhibitor, 2 mg/kg-1 followed by 2 mg/kg-1 X hr-1). Urinary 6ketoPGF1 alpha and thromboxane B2 (TXB2), reflecting renal synthesis of PGI2 and TXA2, as well as PRA and serum TXB2, were measured. Serum TXB2 was reduced by 96% after U-63,557A. U-63,557A did not affect the basal PRA. Furosemide increased PRA in both vehicle and U63,557A treated rats. However, the PRA-increment at 10, 20 and 40 min following furosemide administration was greater in U-63,557A-treated rats than in vehicle-treated rats and urine 6ketoPGF1 alpha excretion rates were increased. These effects of thromboxane synthesis inhibition are consistent with a redirection of renal PG synthesis toward PGI2 and further suggest that such redirection can be physiologically relevant.

We had previously shown that the early increment in plasma renin activity occurring within ten minutes of intravenous furosemide is accompanied by an increase in urine 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (6-keto-PGF1 alpha) the hydrolysis product of prostacyclin. Renal prostacyclin and thromboxane A2 synthesis are apparently limited to the cortex. To assess whether indomethacin would inhibit renal cortical eicosanoid synthesis and whether such reduction correlated with reduced early renin release, we assessed responses to intravenous furosemide (0.5 mg/kg) before and after indomethacin (150 mg/day for seven days) in ten normal male volunteers. Indomethacin did not change blood pressure but increased weight slightly (79.7 +/- 2.5 kg to 80.4 +/- 2.4 kg, p less than 0.05). Serum thromboxane B2 (TXB2), a measure of platelet thromboxane A2 production, was profoundly depressed (142 +/- 29 ng/ml to 4.8 +/- 1.6 ng/ml, p less than 0.001). Neither diuresis nor natriuresis were changed by indomethacin but potassium excretion was reduced (33 +/- 4 mmol/4 hr to 27 +/- 3 mmol/4 hr, p less than 0.05). Basal as well as furosemide stimulated plasma renin activity (at 10, 30 and 240 minutes) was reduced, as well as the transient increase in excretion rates of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and TXB2. We conclude that the reduction in furosemide stimulated renin release by indomethacin is due to renal cyclo-oxygenase inhibition which is reflected in decreased excretion rates of hydrolysis products of renal eicosanoids.

We studied the effects of a specific thromboxane (TX) synthetase inhibitor (U-63,557A) and a cyclooxygenase inhibitor on furosemide-induced renin release. Furosemide (2.0 mg X kg-1) was injected into Sprague-Dawley rats pretreated with indomethacin (10 mg X kg-1, i.v.), U-63,557A (1.0-32.0 mg X kg-1, i.v.), or vehicle (Na2CO3 0.03 M). Plasma renin activity was measured in blood samples collected 0, 10, 20, and 40 min after the injection of furosemide. Blood was also collected after the administration of vehicle, indomethacin, or U-63,557A for serum TXB2, a measure of platelet TXA2 synthesis. The results demonstrated that plasma renin activity rose with time following furosemide in the various groups of rats; indomethacin suppressed the furosemide-induced increments in plasma renin activity, while U-63,557A at doses of 4-8 mg X kg-1 augmented it. At doses below 4 mg X kg-1 or above 8 mg X kg-1, U-63,557A did not augment renin secretion. Indomethacin and U-63,557A reduced serum thromboxane by 81 and 90%, respectively. Thus, these experiments suggest that thromboxane synthetase inhibition, within a narrow dosage range, potentiates furosemide-induced renin release while cyclooxygenase inhibition suppresses it.