Neurohormonal regulation of renal function during development

This review summarizes current understanding of fetal renal physiology and considers the role of the neuroadrenergic system and renin-angiotensin system in controlling renal hemodynamics and function during development. Recent evidence suggests that renal innervation appears early during fetal life but is not an important modulator of renal hemodynamics and function during resting conditions in immature animals. It has also been observed that the renal hemodynamic response to renal nerve stimulation (RNS) is less in fetal and newborn animals than in adults. But contrary to previous findings in adult animals, RNS during alpha-adrenoceptor antagonism produces renal vasodilation in fetal and newborn sheep, but not in adult ewes. The role of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in modulating renal hemodynamics and function during prenatal and postnatal maturation is discussed. It is suggested that the RAS plays an important role in regulating blood pressure early during fetal life, whereas its influence on renal hemodynamics and function appears later during development.