Influence of diet and metabolism on urinary acid excretion in the rat and the rabbit

Abstract

Rabbits normally excrete an alkaline urine, whereas rat urine is usually acidic. This study was designed to determine whether this difference was attributable to the composition of the diet or to specific metabolism of the species. Balance studies were performed in rabbits and rats with comparable growth rates who were consuming standard laboratory feed. The diets for both species had an excess of fixed cations over anions. Rats fed Rat Chow excreted urine containing net acid, whereas rabbits fed the same diet excreted urine containing net base. Rabbits eating Rabbit Chow excreted a very alkaline urine, but rats eating the same diet excreted much less alkali when expressed per kilogram of body weight. Balance studies demonstrated that rabbits absorbed a much higher proportion of dietary organic anions and excreted a larger fraction of this as total CO2. Collecting-duct hydrogen ion secretion and ammonium excretion, which are normally low in the rabbit during metabolic acidosis, were not increased when Rat Chow was consumed by rabbits for 2 weeks. In summary, feeding identical diets to rabbits or rats led to vastly different values for NAE. There appeared to be a gastrointestinal difference, as judged by the quantity of absorbed organic anions, as well as a metabolic difference reflected in the very different ratios of urinary total CO2 to organic anion.