[Morphologic changes in the kidneys in experimental cholino-protein deficiency]

Experiments were made on male Wistar rats fed the cirrhosogenous diet deficient in protein and choline (group I), protein deficient diet with choline addition (group II), and the animal house diet (group III). Based on histological and electron microscopy studies of rat kidneys and liver made 10 months after the onset of experiments, the group I animals developed glomerulopathy with tubulointerstitial component in the presence of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. The animals belonging to group II with fatty hepatosis had a similar liver lesion, which was less marked, however. The liver lesion in rats with liver cirrhosis was marked by depositions in the mesangial matrix and in the basal membrane of glomerular capillaries. The severity of the pathological process in the kidneys directly correlated with the morphofunctional status of the liver. Alterations in the liver of the group III animals (with the histological liver structure being normal) were regarded as age-associated.