The Effect of Norethandrolone on Organic Ion Transport by Rat Renal Cortical Slices

Abstract

Norethandrolone (NE) and other androgenic steroids have been shown to be renotropic in various species and have also been reported to have salutary effects in patients with diminished renal function. Renal cortical slices prepared from rats pretreated with NE showed an increased capability to concentrate p-aminohippuric acid (PAH). Pretreatment with NE failed to stimulate the transport of the organic base tetraethylammonium and the organic acid benzylpenicillin. Stimulation of PAH transport was observed after eight daily subcutaneous injections of NE. No stimulation was observed with shorter pretreatment intervals. When NE was given subcutaneously for 14 days at doses of 2, 6, or 20 mg kg−1 day−1, significant stimulation of PAH transport was seen at all three dose levels but no dose–effect relationship was apparent. Stimulation of PAH transport was seen in female rats as well as castrated and intact males. In addition to its general anabolic properties, NE induces the synthesis of hepatic microsomal drug-metabolizing enzymes. For comparative purposes, therefore, the effect of pregnenolone-16α-carbonitrile (PCN) was also investigated. This agent is a potent inducer of drug metabolism but is neither anabolic nor renotropic. When rats were pretreated with an inducing dose of PCN (75 mg kg−1 day−1 for 3 days), there was no significant stimulation of PAH transport. It would seem, then, that the stimulatory effect of NE on PAH transport is more closely associated with its generalized anabolic effect than with its ability to induce hepatic microsomal enzymes.