Effects of He-Ne laser irradiation on chick embryo mesonephros

A study on the effects of He-Ne laser irradiation on glomeruli and renal tubules of the chick embryo mesonephros at 7 days of in ovo development was made. To this purpose, He-Ne laser irradiation (potency: 5 mW, wavelength: 632.8 nm) was beamed for 5 minutes through a window opened in the egg shell, and the eggs were maintained aseptically for 24 h in an incubator. Mesonephros were dissected out and processed for hematoxylin/eosin, periodic acid-Schiff, and Alcian blue at pH 2.5 and 1.0, toluidine Blue at pH 3.8. In controls, the glomeruli were formed by coiled capillaries with a homogeneous basement membrane, the proximal tubules presented a high cubic epithelium with acidophilic cytoplasm and a developed brush border. Distal and collecting segments were lined by cubic epithelium. An alcianophilic and PAS-positive reaction stood out at the membrane coats of the proximal tubules and tubular and glomerular basement membranes. No glomerular alterations were observed during the experiment. However, there was a marked enlargement of the tubular interstitium, with edema and lymphohistiocytic inflammatory infiltration. Some tubular cells desquamated to the lumen. Other cells presented a raveled apical surface. Some nuclei were dispersed out, and mixing with chromatin, formed diminutive granules. Pyknotic nuclei were seen occasionally. Epithelial necrosis and cytoplasmic debris in the lumen were also noted. For mucins, some zones showed brush border coats of the proximal tubules as discontinuous.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)