Blood, 1962, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 75-81.
© 1962 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
The Role of the Kidney in the Erythropoietic Response
to Hypoxia in Parabiotic Rats
WENDELL F. ROSSE 1 and
THOMAS A. WALDMANN 1
1 Metabolism Service, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md.
1. Parabiotic rats, in which one partner was either nephrectomized or ureter
ligated, have been used to determine the role of the kidney in the stimulation
of erythropoiesis by hypoxia as measured by iron59 incorporation into the
peripheral RBC.
2. The radioiron incorporation into peripheral red blood cells was less in
pairs in which the nephrectomized partner was hypoxic than in the pairs in
which the unoperated or ureter ligated partner was hypoxic, suggesting that
the kidney is important in the stimulation of erythropoiesis in response to hypoxia.
3. The iron incorporation in pairs in which the nephrectomized partner
was hypoxic was greater than in those pairs in which one partner was nephrectomized
but neither was hypoxic, suggesting that tissues other than the kidney
contribute to the erythropoietic response to hypoxia.
Accepted on October 12, 1961
