MORPHOLOGICAL AND ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE RAT KIDNEY AFTER EXPERIMENTAL
SEPSIS
M. Aunapuu, K. Kokk, H. Tapfer, P. Roosaar, R. Talvik,1 A. Liigant
Department of Anatomy, Chair of Anatomy, Chair of Histology, 1 Clinics of Anestesiology,
Tartu University, Tartuy 51014, Estonia;
e-mail: mariaun@ut.ee
Experimental sepsis was investigated in 42 male white Wistar rats. The animals were divided into 7 equal groups.
Suspended E. coli cells (2 o 107 per 100 g body weight) were injected into the tail vein in groups I-VI, group VII
served as a control group. The rats were sacrificed with cervical dislocation at different times after injection: in 45 min (group I), 2 h
(group II), 6 h (group III), 24 h (group IV), 48 h (group V), and 120 h (group VI). Samples of kidneys were taken and embedded in paraffin
and EPON-812 for histological and electron microscopical evaluation, respectively. Results: histological examination demonstrated that
changes in kindeys started in 2 h after infection to achieve the maximum level in 24 h, showing thereafter a tendency to decrease.
A significant tissue damage was first seen in the loop and distal tubules of nephrons, and then expanded to the proximal tubules.
Electron microscope examination demonstrated that changes in podocytes and cytopodia could be distinctly differentiated in 2 h after
infection and obviously increased in the course of the experiment. The podocytes were enlarged, the processes were expanded and
adhered to each other. For that reason the number of filtration pores in the glomerular basal membrane decreased. The count of mesangial
cells in the glomerulus was increased.
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