An improved method to determine renal function using inulin and p-aminohippurate (PAH) steady-state kinetic modeling

Abstract

Steady-state clearances using inulin and PAH are the most reliable reference procedures if new test substances or techniques are developed to estimate the GFR or the of these methods we developed an open monocompartment model with an expanding distribution volume of the substance of interest. In this model we derived prescriptions for the concentration of inulin and PAH in the infusion procedure. The resulting improvement was verified by the F-test on the variance of plasma concentration in a 3-hour examination of 15 patients. The final results are of direct benefit to the patient because the number of blood samples required for the control of the steady-state plasma level can be reduced. Furthermore, we derived an individual correction of the so-called input steady-state clearance (without urine collection) which relates better to the usual output clearance of inulin or PAH. A PC-BASIC program is available that calculates the proper concentrations for the infusion and executes the complete analysis (GFR, ERPF, filtrate fraction [FF], maximal tubular transport of PAH [TmPAH] and the renal vascular resistance [RVR], each of which is related to the BSA and the age of the patient).