A plasma creatinine- and urea-based equation to estimate glomerular filtration rate in rats

Abstract

Monitoring renal function is a vital part of kidney research involving rats. The laborious measurement of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) with administration of exogenous filtration markers does not easily allow serial measurements. Using an in-house database of inulin clearances, we developed and validated a plasma creatinine- and plasma urea-based equation to estimate GFR in a large cohort of male rats [development cohort <i>n</i> = 325, <i>R</i>² = 0.816, percentage of predictions that fell within 30% of the true value (P30) = 76%] that had high accuracy in the validation cohort (<i>n</i> = 116 rats, <i>R</i>² = 0.935, P30 = 79%). The equation was less accurate in rats with nonsteady-state creatinine, in which the equation should therefore not be used. In conclusion, applying this equation facilitates easy and repeatable estimates of GFR in rats.<b>NEW & NOTEWORTHY</b> This is the first equation, that we know of, which estimates glomerular filtration rate in rats based on a single measurement of body weight, plasma creatinine, and plasma urea.