AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 242, Issue 3 303-R305, Copyright © 1982 by American Physiological Society
Intraspecies allometry: correlation between kidney weight and glomerular filtration rate vs. body weight
H. Hackbarth, D. Buttner and K. Gartner
Allometric equations of the form of Y = a*BWb were calculated between body
weight (BW) on the one hand and either kidney weight (KW) or glomerular
filtration rate (GFR) on the other. By using strain and sex means obtained
from 24 different inbred strains of adult mice or F1-hybrids environmental
and genetical influences could be separated statistically. Thus, allometric
equations reported in this study describe exclusively genetic influence.
The parameters for intraspecies allometric equations obtained in these
studies were compared to those in the literature presenting interspecies
relationships. The double logarithmic regressions of KW vs. BW gave results
different from the interspecies equation. The difference between intra- and
interspecies results of allometric relationships may be due to the
experimental exclusion of environmental influences. The regression
parameters for GFR vs. BW obtained for the inbred strains, however, agreed
very well with those of the empirical equation for interspecies
relationship and also with the theoretically expected value. The dependence
of GFR on BW was found to be GFR = 0.036*BW0.74 +/- 0.15, where GFR is
measured in ml/min and BW in g. The exponent of 0.74 seems to be a valid
biological constant that is genetically determined within and across
species lines.
