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Updated: Mar 1, 2026

A Large Animal Model for Acute Kidney Injury by Temporary Bilateral Renal Artery Occlusion
Published on: February 2, 2021
The relationship between renal warm ischemia time and glomerular loss. An experimental study in a pig model
José Aurelino Damasceno-Ferreira1, Gustavo Ruschi Bechara2, Waldemar Silva Costa3
1Master, Postgraduate Program in Physiopathology and Surgical Sciences, Urogenital Research Unit, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Clinical Pathology, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niteroi-RJ, Brazil. Conception and design of the study, acquisition and interpretation of data, final approval.
Purpose::
To investigate the glomerular number after different warm ischemia times.
Methods::
Thirty two pigs were assigned into four groups. Three groups (G10, G20, and G30) were treated with 10, 20, and 30 minutes of left renal warm ischemia. The sham group underwent the same surgery without renal ischemia. The animals were euthanized after 3 weeks, and the kidneys were collected. Right kidneys were used as controls. The kidney weight, volume, cortical-medullar ratio, glomerular volumetric density, volume-weighted mean glomerular volume, and the total number of glomeruli per kidney were obtained. Serum creatinine levels were assessed pre and postoperatively.
Results::
Serum creatinine levels did not differ among the groups. All parameters were similar for the sham, G10, and G20 groups upon comparison of the right and left organs. The G30 group pigs' left kidneys had lower weight, volume, and cortical-medullar ratio and 24.6% less glomeruli compared to the right kidney. A negative correlation was found between warm ischemia time and glomerular number.
Conclusions::
About one quarter of glomeruli was lost after 30 minutes of renal warm ischemia. No glomeruli loss was detected before 20 minutes of warm ischemia. However, progressive glomerular loss was associated with increasing warm ischemia time.

