Glomerular lesions in spontaneously occurring diabetic WBN/Kob rats

Glomerular lesions in WBN/Kob male rats with spontaneous diabetes were examined histopathologically. The glomerulopathy caused by diabetes was compared with lesions in chronic progressive nephropathy of non-diabetic SD and F344 male aged rats. Diffuse and global thickening of the mesangial area was observed only in WBN/Kob rats and showed a statistically significant correlation with serum glucose concentrations. Therefore, it suggested that the mesangial thickening was a result of hyperglycaemia. Fibrin cap-like lesions were seen in both WBN/Kob and non-diabetic SD or F344 male rats. The severity of these lesions was closely related to that of chronic progressive nephropathy and, therefore, the fibrin cap-like lesions were considered to be due to the chronic progressive nephropathy.