To estimate the participation of hereditary disposition in the affection of diffuse glomerulonephritis, the familial occurrence of the disease was studied in the patients and mass survey. The subjects were 233 admitted patients with diffuse glomerulonephritis in whom the diagnosis was confirmed clinically and by percutaneous renal biopsies, 934 admitted patients with other diseases, and 501 healthy perscrs working in a company.The results obtained were as follows. (1) Occurrence of more than two in a family (within the limits of grand parents, parents, brothers and sisters, and children) was found in 22 (9.8%) out of 223 families and 4 (19.1%) out of 21 families of nephritis groups of the admitted patients and the mass survery, respectively. Whereas in non-nephritis groups the rates were 0.1 and 0.4%, respectively. (2) Higher incidences of from 3 up to 7 in a family were found in 9 of 26 families of nephritis groups, but none in non-nephritis groups. (3) Age distribution of familial cases was not different from that of the usual diffuse glomerul-onephritis. Some correlation of age was found in brothers and sisters under 30 years of age. (4) Sex difference was not observed. In some families the males and in some others the females were preponderantly affected and in the others both sexes were equally affected. (5) Similarity in course and outcome was noticee more markedly between brothers and sisters than between parent and child. (6) Clinical and histological investigations were made on 36 of 63 familial cases of nephritis group of admitted patients. So far as investigated, the aspects of every cases were clinically and his-tologically those of diffuse glomerulonephritis and were different from those of hereditary nephritis or familial hematuria.(7) Five interesting family cases including a case of identical twins were presented. (8) From these observations it was concluded that the familial constitutional factors play a role in the affection and course of this disease.

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Recently it was reveald that urinary concentration was achieved at countercurrent system of the kidney. However, the transport of solutes, e. g, sodium chloride and urea, in this system has not been sufficiently elucidated. This study was attempted to clarify the role of urea on urinary concentration with special reference to nonurea solute, especially sodium chlorid. A) Relation between urinary concentrating ability and urinary urea/nonurea solutes ratio (U/NUS) in human subjects (1) Fishberg concentration test was performed about twenty young healthy women under the same dietary load. (2) Fishberg concentration test was carried out about two healthy adults and two chro-nic glomerulonephritic patients under several differnt dietary load which contained protein and salt in various ratio. And urinary osmolality and urea concentration were measured and following results were obtained: 1) Maximum urinary concentration was obserbed at optimal urinary U/NUS ratio which was about 0.43 to 0.46. 2) Urinary concentrating ability was influenced not only by dietary load of salt and protein but also by dietary protein/salt ratio. 3) The damage of renal countercurrenta system causec the decrement of urinary concentrating ability and urinary U/NUS ratio. B) Effect of urea/Na+CI ratio of tubular fluid on the urea accumulation in renal papilla of rab-bit by retrograde infusion experiment. Rabbits weighing about two kilogram were anesthetized with thiobarbiturate. And urea solution and urea-NaC1 or urea-NaC1-KCI solution were infused separately to each kidney through ureter catheter under 40 mmHg pressure for 0 minutes, Then urea concentration and water content of renal papilla of both kidney were measured respectively. And the following results were obtained: 1) The addition of NaCI to urea solution increased urea concentration of papilla and maximum accumulation of urea was attained at the optimal urea/Na+CI ratio absut 0.24. 2) Potassium accelerated the accumulatioh of urea into papilla at the concentration less than 17 mEq/l. 3) The mechanism of this phenomen was not due to the osmotic action of sodium or potassium.C) Conclusion1) Urea plays active role to renal urinary concentration under the existence of nonurea solutes.2) The movement of urea in renal countercurrent system is not seemed to be passive diffusion.

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A newly explored method for direct measurement of renal territorial circulation has been establishedd by employing beta emitters as a circulation tracer. The machine for this purpose is consisting small GM tubes (in endowindow type, 8 mm window radius), scalers and autcmatic recorder. As tracer elements ³²P for labeling red cell and⁵⁵Fe, ¹⁴⁷Pm, ¹⁹⁸Au for the plasma are being employed. The GM tubes are used by placing directly on the surface of the kidney or renal vessels at least at two points where the emission of circulating elements can be caught and recorded. The counting of the emissionn represents the amount of flow in that region limited a few mm in deapth. In the normal state of the rabbit the blood flow through the subcapsular zone including superficiall glomeruli and some proximal tubules exhibits occasional spike contrasting that of renal vessels andd juxtapelvic (-hilar) ones where the flow curve is rather smooth, even and less ridged. On the basis of the anatomical finding of the arterial branches the juxtapelvic renal cortex is thought to be almostt comparable, to the Bertin's column. In the state of ligation of renal artery in varying degrees the subcapsular blood flow reveals markeac depression which develops shortly after ligation is commenced. On the contrary the blood flow through the juxtapelvic cortex shows rather constant pattern. It would be, therefore, concluded that the renall blood flow in the ischemic state directs principally to the juxtamedullary circuit. These data are obtained by whole blood labeled with ⁵⁵Fe. Electron microscopic examinations performed at the ischemic kidney established by renal arterial ligation up to 1/2 to 1/4 depressed flow with 15 minutes duration represents patchy fusion of the glomerular podocytes and desquamation of the proximal tubular epithelial cell into the tubular lumen. The cell undergoes soon or later to deteriolate into fragments of cytoplasma recongised by the presence of fragmented mitochondria, cytoplasmic reticulum and small vesicles. These are seen stucked in the lumen of the distal tubule. Radiological measurement of the renal blood flow with Pm labeled plasma and of the red cell gives totally different pattern to that labeled with ³²P: the former usually gives the way of flow according to thee idea of Oxford shunt proposed by Trueta and others. On the contrary the red cell flows different from that of Oxford shunt. Even the ligation of renal artery is in progress the red cell flows directing mainly to the upper cortex and flow through juxtamedullary zone in rather small amount. The resultt indicates that the red cell possesses a potenciality to separate it from the plasma in the course of intrarenal flow. The functional data speck for the idea of plasma skimming proposed by Pappenheimer and Kinder. In conjunction with the cell separation theory one should pay an attention to that type of histologic pattern such as distended renal vein containing plasma only. The red cell containing veinn would be encountered only in the superficial zone of the renal cortex, not deep in the cortex and medulla at the renal ischemia.

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The kidneys of adult rats of Wistar strain injected intravenously with Fesin (a sort of Saccharated ferric oxide), were investigated electron microscopically. Fesin particles, chemically [Fe(OH)₃] m [C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁] n, have the size of 20 to 50A in diameter and are readily detectable by electron microscopy. Unlike ferritin and dextran iron commonly used in these days, Fesin particles are easily filtrable through the glomerular tufts and appear in the urine immediately after the injection. The animals were injected with 1.0 ml of Fesin solution, containing 10 mg of iron, per 100 g body weight one to five times daily. In one group of animals the activity of the reticulo-endothelial systems was precedently blocked with carbon black (Pilot).The results obtained are summarized as follows. (1) In glomerular tufts, Fesin particles pass mainly through the fenestrations of the endothelial cells, then the basement membranes and are taken into the epithelial cells. A small amount of the particles is accumulated in the tissue spaces of mesangiums, and then also pass through the neiboring basement membranes into the epithelial cells. The passage of the particles directly into Bowman space through the slit membrane between foot processes was not confirmed. The uptake of the particles into the epithelial cells is assumed to be performed by pinocytosis and not by diffusion. (2) Fesin particles in tubular cavity are also taken up by pinocytotic process into the proximal tubular cells. In earlier stage after the injection, the apical tubular invaginations, apical vesicles, and apical vacuoles (Ericsson, 1964) of the cells areaseen increasing in number and size and the Fesin particles are found exclusively in them. Comparing the Fesin contents in these organellae, the existence of the direct communication between the proximal tubular cavity and apical vacuoles is suggested. (3) When the above mentioned communications become interrupted, the apical vacuoles are trans-formed into so-called “droplets” (transport vesicles). Concentrating their contents, confusing each others and becoming larger, these droplets move deeper in the cell, and are taken up by cytosomes or lysosomes (digestion vesicles). (4) Two days after the injection many ferritin-like particles appear in lysosomes, more later the lysosomes are broken down, scattering the particles diffusely in cytoplasm, nucleus, and mitochondria. Some of the particles are excreted into the tubular cavity together with myelin figure-like bodies.The ferritin-like particles were not detected in the peritubular basement membranes.

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Administration of monoamine oxidase inhibitors to the dog and rat pretreated with reserpine induces hypertension and emotional excitation. This experiment is planned to investigate the pharmacologic effect of reserpine with monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors were given to the animals pretreated with reserpine and catecholamine contents in blood plasma of the dog and brain and adrenal glands of the rats were analyzed.The results are as follows.When the following monoamine oxidase inhibitors were administered to the dog pretreated reserpine, 1) hypertension was developed and the blood plasma Catecholamines, including adrenaline and noradrenaline, by the administration of JB-516 and pargyline hydrochloride. JB-516 resulted in highest pressor effect and longest continuation of high blood pressure. The increase in blood plasma catecholamines were in same degree by JB-516 and pargyline hydro-chloride. 2) hypertension and increase in plasma catecholamines were not obtained by nialamide. 3) the pressor response of reserpine was not blocked by either atropine or TEA. 4) the E. C. G. of the dogs administered with reserpine and JB-516 or pargyline hydrochloride showed bigeminy. When monoamine oxidase inhibitors were administered in rats pretreated with reserpine, the cate-cholamines were decreased in adrenal glands, but not in brain tissue.

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1) Separated renal function tests were performed during water 'diuresis in four patients with unilateral renovascular hypertension and fifteen hypertensioe patients without renovascular lesions. In. patients with renovascular hypertension, urine volume (V), sodium concentration in the urine (U_Na), and TRF_Na(Tubular Rejection Fraction of sodium) were decreased and creatinine concentration (U_cr) and potassium/sodium ratio in the urine (U_K/U_Na) were elevated in the involved side. Concerning to the diagnosis of unilateral renovascular, hypertension, TRF_Na and U_K/U_Na ratio in the urine were most valuable criteria not relying upon urine volume. 2) In the dogs in which left renal artery was partially constricted, separated renal function was investigated under various conditions in which diuresis was induced by oral administration of water, and intravenous loading of 5 per cent sodium chloride solution, 8 per cent urea solution and 10 per cent mannitol solution, respectively. In water diuresis, V, the excreted amounts of sodium and potassium (U_NaV and U_KV) and TRF_Na were decreased, and U_K/U_Na ratio was elevated in the constricted side. U_Na and U_K showed variable concentrations as compared with the non-constricted side. Ucr in the constricted side was elevated in varing degrees, but not always markedly. Glomerular filtration rate was decreased in the constricted side, but the extent was rather slight. In contrast, TRF_Na and U_K/U_Na ratio indicated remarkable differences between both sides. These results endorsed the clinical results. It was considered that, in the constricted kidney, the tubular fluid moved more slowly down: in the tubular lumen in consequence of reduction of glomelular filtration rate, and by this, "time factor" concerning the reabsorption of sodium was prolonged resulting in the increase of sodium reabsorption and the decrease of TRF_Na. In the distal nephron, also, the inflow of fluid was decreased, and U_K/U_Na ratio was elevated by increased sodium-potassium exchange. In the osmotic and saluretic diuresis, the difference of excretion of water, sodium and potassium between both sides was reduced or none. This fact was considered as that in the kidney of constricted side, the active' reabsorption capacity of sodium in the tuble was rather decreased, and the difference of "time factor" concerning the reabsorption of sodium between both sides was disappeared through the increased tubular flow. 3) The conclusions are as follows: In the separated renal function test as a diagnostic procedure for unilateral renovascular hypertension, TRF_Na and U_K/U_Na ratio were most valuable criteria not relying upon the urine volume. In the performance of this test, however, any loading of osmotically active solutions should bs avoided.

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