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Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Transcutaneous Assessment of Renal Function in Conscious Rodents

DOI: 10.3791/53767-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Perform transcutaneous GFR measurement using FITC-sinistrin in conscious rodents
  • ✓ Apply non-invasive fluorescence monitoring to assess kidney function
  • ✓ Interpret elimination curves to detect renal impairment
Protocol

Biopharma Insights Determination of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the gold standard to assess overall kidney function. However, traditional procedures to measure this parameter are cumbersome and require a large investment of time. Here we describe a faster and minimally invasive method to determinate GFR transcutaneously.

Difficulty
intermediate
Total time
~45–60 min per animal (including device equilibration and fluorescence measurement)
Model organism
Rodent (mice/rats, unspecified strain)
Biosafety
BSL-1

Steps

1
Fixate transcutaneous measurement device to animal

Secure the measurement device transcutaneously on the conscious rodent using appropriate fixation methods to enable continuous fluorescence monitoring without restraint.

▶ 01:03
2
Administer FITC-sinistrin and measure fluorescence

Inject FITC-sinistrin and initiate real-time fluorescence measurement via the transcutaneous device to generate GFR elimination kinetics data.

▶ 03:50
3
Analyze FITC-sinistrin elimination curves

Interpret fluorescence decay kinetics to differentiate normal kidney function from impaired renal clearance based on elimination curve slope and clearance rate.

▶ 05:35
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