Renal response to environmental toxics

Abstract

Several characteristics of normal renal function increase the risk to the kidney of damage by environmental toxins. Due to the magnitude of renal blood flow the total amount of noxious substance delivered may be disproportionately high. Furthermore, the capacity to concentrate substances within the kidney by processes of filtration, reabsorption and secretion has the potential to increase the toxicity of agents which would otherwise not lead to tissue injury. Unfortunately, there are few tests of renal function which are able to detect early functional abnormalities and which, at the same time, are suited for screening purposes by virtue of their simplicity, cost and safety. Furthermore, interpretation of the tests is complicated by adaptive changes in renal function which occur with aging and in response to other disease processes.

Environmental agents produce a wide spectrum of renal dysfunction. Acute renal damage follows exposure to glycols, organic solvents, heavy metals, diagnostic and therapeutic agents and a variety of miscellaneous substances. Chronic renal disease may take the form of isolated tubular defects as seen with cadmium, interstitial nephritis due to the ingestion of lead, or vascular damage induced by external radiation. Some forms of glomerulonephritis may also be related to environmental toxins as are certain tumors of the urinary tract.

In a somewhat different fashion, patients whose renal function is limited by the presence of pre-existing disease may manifest toxicity from substances ordinarily excreted in the urine. Particular problems exist with the patients on dialysis, as they are at considerable risk to alterations in the environment.