Transient urethral obstruction predisposes to ascending pyelonephritis and tubulo-interstitial disease: studies in rats

Chronic tubulo-interstitial disease, an important cause of end-stage renal disease, often results from the combined effects of a disturbed urinary outflow tract and urinary tract infection. Acute unilateral ureteral obstruction in rats rapidly induces foci of medullary necrosis, confined to the region of the papilla and fornices. This injury may provide a nidus for bacterial invasion and may invoke reactive and regenerative changes, ultimately leading to chronic pyelonephritis and tubulo-interstitial nephropathy. To explore this possibility, adult rats underwent renal morphological evaluation 2–7 days following transient 24-h unilateral ureteral obstruction. In some experiments the bladder was inoculated with bacteria (10⁸–10⁹ cfu/ml Escherichia coli in 0.5 ml) after release of ureteral obstruction, with subsequent cultures obtained from the pelvis of both kidneys and from the urinary bladder. Morphologic evaluation of perfusion-fixed kidneys, 2–7 days after the release of 24-h ureteral obstruction disclosed papillary necrosis, urothelial proliferation, marked inner-stripe interstitial expansion, and fibrosis and proximal tubular (S₃) dilatation. The lateral (perihilar region) was predominantly affected, with lesions spreading from the fornices. There was some progression of interstitial fibrosis during the postobstructive time course or following more prolonged ureteral obstruction. By contrast, infection hardly contributed to the tubulointerstitial changes. In rats subjected to infection, cultures were positive in all 15 postobstructive kidneys, as opposed to five contralateral kidneys (P < 0.0001). Viable counts from the postobstructive kidney were also higher than those from the contralateral side (79,000 ± 12,000 vs 2900 ± 1600 cfu/ml, mean ± SEM, P < 0.0001), and were comparable to those obtained from the bladder (77,000 ± 13,000 cfu/ml). We conclude that transient ureteral obstruction predisposes to ascending pyelonephritis and to tubulointerstitial disease. This vulnerability may relate to altered urodynamics and medullary tissue destruction. Received: 28 December 1999 / Accepted: 28 September 2000