| Abstract: | One kidney was removed from male rats weighing 500–850 g; the remaining kidney underwent compensatory hypertrophy and, after 1–2 months, it was larger (index of hypertrophy 70–92%) in rats weighing 700–850 g than in animals weighing 500–600 g (56–58%). Histological investigation showed that this marked hypertrophy of the solitary kidney in old rats was not the result of disease of the organ, for pathological changes such as are sometimes found in intact and hypertrophied kidneys were found in only 38 of 223 animals. The results suggest that the ability of the kidneys to undergo, compensation and regeneration is not reduced in old age.Laboratory of Growth and Development, Institute of Human Morphology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. P. Avtsyn.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 84, No. 9, pp. 362–366, September, 1977. |
