Would someone with some form of kidney dysfunction or just low kidney function in general have lower relative and absolute responsiveness to strength training than someone who does not have such complications? (Based solely on their kidney function alone)
Very advanced kidney dysfunction can lead to a variety of complications that drive anabolic resistance and cachexia. I would not expect mild-moderate reductions in GFR (again, with no consideration of the underlying cause, as you specify here) to cause significant decrements in training responsiveness. However, clinically significant impairments in kidney function always have some underlying cause, and that can certainly be relevant.
So, a bit difficult to answer your question directly, but if I were only looking at someone’s eGFR with no context, I would not be very concerned about this unless the level of dysfunction were quite severe (say, in the range of CKD 4-5 or ESKD/dialysis). With that said, studies of patients with advanced CKD and/or hemodialysis patients still show significant improvements in response to RT and is an active area of research. You can look up the Global Renal Exercise Network on Twitter for a good place to start.
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Since cause is relevant, what about kidney dysfunction that is typically caused by severe dehydration? As in 1, 2 or even 3 weeks of zero water. Is the damage sustained to the kidneys from something like this permanent or reversible? And would someone in this situation become permanently less responsive to resistance training due to complications that can drive anabolic resistance and cachexia? I know someone someone from my gym who recently went down the “dry fasting” rabbit hole (which is why I asked a question about it a while ago), and now claims to have gone 11 days with no food or water for one of his “fasts”, as far as I am aware dehydration to that degree is likely to cause dysfunction in the kidneys, so are complications from this permanent? and would someone who goes a long time without water, whether voluntarily or forcibly, be screwed from a strength training perspective?
Voluntary water fasting can be risky depending on the duration and the individual, though developing kidney issues run the gamut from persistent to acute. I would not predict any impact on future training, despite it being a dumb idea.
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