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Stereologic estimates of glomerular volume in unilaterally nephrectomized rats
1Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing Medical University, People's Republic of China.
Objective:
To quantitatively evaluate the changes in glomeruli in unilaterally nephrectomized adult rats by unbiased stereologic techniques.
Study Design:
Adult rats received unilateral nephrectomy (UN) or a sham operation. Four weeks later the remnant kidneys were fixed and sampled by the fractionator method. Consecutive sections were prepared and stained. Morphometric analyses were performed by a light microscope equipped with computer-assisted digitizer.
Results:
The total glomerular volume increased by 51% (P < .01). The volume density of glomeruli did not change (5.58 +/- 0.22 x 10(-2) vs. 5.51 +/- 0.44 x 10(-2), P > .50). In contrast, the numerical densities of glomeruli decreased by 36% (P < .05).
Conclusion:
Glomerular enlargement, but not the increase in glomerular number contributed heavily to compensatory glomerular growth after UN in rats.