Figure 5.

Complete autoregulatory compensation of RBF is achieved in conscious but not anesthetized rats. Illustration of the effect of anesthesia on autoregulatory responses, as assessed by the SSARI methodology in the same rats with preserved (control rats with intact renal mass) and impaired AR (RK-NX rats with or without amlodipine) during conscious recordings and after mechanically produced step-BP changes under anesthesia, as previously described. Anesthesia slows the normal autoregulatory responses in intact control rats as indicated by the time to complete autoregulatory compensation (SSARI of approximately 0) of approximately 60 seconds versus approximately 10 seconds in the conscious state. The persistent impairment in AR (reduced magnitude of the AR response) seen under anesthesia in RK-NX rats with or without amlodipine is not observed during the conscious state in these same rats, and complete compensation is achieved although at a slower rate than in control rats with intact renal mass (20 versus 10 seconds). *P<0.006 maximum anesthetized versus conscious in RK-NX and RK-NX plus amlodipine rats for all segment lengths of 1 second or longer. The SEM bars and statistical significance are not shown for SSARI calculated for segment lengths of 2.5 seconds or smaller, for clarity of illustration.