Histological and histochemical assessment of the effects of a single dose adriamycin on fetal rat kidney

Adriamycin (ADR) induces nephritic syndrome (NS) in adult rats. Therefore, effects of ADR in a single dose of 5mg/kg body weight given intraperitoneally to the mothers at 4 weeks before pregnancy were assessed on fetal rat kidneys in the present study. It induces increased amounts of PAS(+)-positive mesangial matrix, glomerulosclerosis, dilatation of the urinary space and thickening of basement membranes in glomeruli. In tubules, it damages or completely destroys epithelial cells, it induces dilatation of the tubular lumen and disintegration of the brush border. Changes in fetal rat kidney as observed light microscopically appeared to be similar to those described in kidneys of adult rats with NS induced by adriamycin, but were less distinct.     

Renal Vascular System in Stenosis of the Pulmonary Trunk with Different Level of Circulatory Compensation

Stenosis of the pulmonary trunk impaired outflow of venous blood from the kidneys and oxygen supply to renal tissues. This was paralleled by adaptation increase in renal artery tone and rearrangement of some renal artery by the terminal type. Under conditions of decompensated stenosis these reactions are less pronounced in comparison with compensated defect and do not correspond to the level of hemodynamic disorders, which leads to more pronounced structural changes in glomeruli.     

Role of the interstitial cells in prostaglandin synthesis in the renal medulla

An electron-microscopic investigation was made of the interstitial cells of the renal medulla after injection of indomethacin, an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis, into rats. The number of lipid granules in the interstitial cells was greatly increased under these circumstances. This fact demonstrates the participation of lipid granules in the synthetic function of the interstitial cells as reserve depots for chemical precursors of the prostaglandins, synthesized by the interstitial cells.Laboratory of Pathological Anatomy, A. L. Myasnikov Institute of Cardiology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR E. I. Chazov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 81, No. 4, pp. 503–505, April, 1976.     

Design analysis for an ultrafilter adsorber artificial kidney

An adsorber-ultrafilter system can serve as an alternative to the conventional artificial-kidney dialysis system. To this end, the characteristics of the parametric design analysis of the absorber-ultrafilter artificial kidney and its interaction with a uraemic patient is provided. The activated-carbon adsorber is modelled as a 2-phase homogeneous system, accounting for fluid-particle and intraparticle mass-transfer resistances and the axial dispersion of solute in the interstitial fluid phase of the adsorber bed. It is assumed that the ultrafilter is highly permeable to uraemic substances, and that the ultrafiltration rate is 15–25% of the inlet blood flow rate. The detailed design analysis of the ultrafilter has been provided in an earlier paper. The uraemic patient is modelled, for solute transfer, as comprising three major compartments. The results indicate that a single activated-carbon adsorber unit, with a hold-up volume of 50 ml, is adequate for the removal of uric acid and creatinine in a 6 to 8 h treatment period. However, the poor adsorption capacity of activated carbon for urea, necessitates that the adsorber unit be switched to a freshly activated unit in a very short period of time (11 min in this example). Hence, the need for the development of a better adsorbent for urea is emphasised. A parametric design analysis of the adsorber is also presented, so as to provide the basis for arriving at an optimum size of the adsorber unit.     

The meckel syndrome in the Hutterites

At least three cases of the Meckel syndrome have been identified in the Hutterites. Two of these were sibs and were studied during life; the other, a close relative, was diagnosed retrospectively by a review of hospital records. All parents were consanguineous. The phenotype ranged in severity from the association of occipital meningocele, cystic kidneys, postaxial polydactyly, and microphthalmia to a milder expression consisting of cystic kidneys, ocular defects apparent only on funduscopic examination, and a brain abnormality demonstrated by computer tomography. Survival ranged from 5 to 13 months. In one patient, the renal lesion was manifested as a tubular rather than a glomerular defect, and was probably not the primary cause of death.     

Delayed consequences of protein deficiency during lactation for the development of enzyme systems of digestive and nondigestive organs in offspring

Suboptimal protein nutrition during lactation has a negative impact on the digestive function of the small intestine and trophic barrier functions of the large intestine, liver, and kidneys due to significant enzyme deficiency (disaccharidase, peptidase, alkaline phosphatase) in 6-month-old offspring. Changes in enzyme activity in digestive and nondigestive organs play an important role in metabolic disorders promoting the development of "risk diseases" and reducing lifespan.     

Sympathetic nerve biology in essential hypertension

1. Although the importance of sympathetic nervous activation in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension is well documented, the exact pathophysiology of the sympathetic nervous dysfunction present remains to be delineated. There are several possible explanations for the increased spillover of noradrenaline from the kidneys and heart to plasma, a key piece of evidence supporting the neurogenic basis of essential hypertension, in addition to the obvious one of an increased rate of sympathetic nerve firing. 2. The possibility that there may be an increase in the density of sympathetic innervation in human hypertension, well documented in the spontaneously hypertensive rat, is currently under investigation by us. 3. Adrenaline cotransmission is present in the cardiac sympathetic nerves of patients with essential hypertension, presumptive evidence of their exposure to high levels of stress and a possible basis for the observed increase in cardiac noradrenaline spillover, through presynaptic augmentation of noradrenaline release. 4. Phenotypic evidence exists also of faulty noradrenaline reuptake into the sympathetic nerves of the heart in essential hypertension, an abnormality that would amplify the sympathetic neural signal by impairing removal of noradrenaline from the synaptic cleft.     

Laparoscopic laser lithotripsy inside the endocatch bag: An alternative technique for removal of large post lap pyelolithotomy calculi

Large staghorn calculi in unascended pelvic kidneys and in normally located kidneys with anatomy unsuitable for percutaneous nephrolithotomy have to be treated via pyelolithotomy. When performed laparoscopically, the extraction of these staghorn calculi, without extending skin incision at the port site is challenging. We describe the successful use of laparoscopic laser lithotripsy, intracorporeally, with the entrapped calculus inside the endocatch bag, for fragmentation and retrieval without extension of skin incision.     

Measuring renal tissue relaxation times at 7 T

As developments in RF coils and RF management strategies make performing ultra‐high‐field renal imaging feasible, understanding the relaxation times of the tissue becomes increasingly important for tissue characterization, sequence optimization and quantitative functional renal imaging, such as renal perfusion imaging using arterial spin labeling. By using a magnetization‐prepared single‐breath‐hold fast spin echo imaging method, human renal T₁ and T₂ imaging studies were successfully performed at 7 T with 11 healthy volunteers (eight males, 45 ± 17 years, and three females, 29 ± 7 years, mean ± standard deviation, S.D.) while addressing challenges of B₁⁺ inhomogeneity and short‐term specific absorption rate limits. At 7 T, measured renal T₁ values for the renal cortex and medulla (mean ± S.D.) from five healthy volunteers who participated in both 3 T and two‐session 7 T studies were 1661 ± 68 ms and 2094 ± 67 ms, and T₂ values were 108 ± 7 ms and 126 ± 6 ms. For comparison, similar measurements were made at 3 T, where renal cortex and medulla T₁ values of 1261 ± 86 ms and 1676 ± 94 ms and T₂ values of 121 ± 5 ms and 138 ± 7 ms were obtained. Measurements at 3 T and 7 T were significantly different for both T₁ and T₂ values in both renal tissues. Reproducibility studies at 7 T demonstrated that T₁ and T₂ estimations were robust, with group mean percentage differences of less than 4%. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.