[Regeneration of the proximal kidney tubules (experimental study with the use of scanning electron microscopy)]

Necrosis of proximal tubules in white rats was produced by inoculation of a comparatively low dose (1.5 mg/kg) of mercuric chloride. Necrosis and regeneration of the epithelium were studied in scanning electron microscope during 10 days lfter the inoculation. The relationship between destructive and regenerative processes was established. The membrane naked as a result of epithelial necrosis is first covered by a flat epithelial plate without microvilli. Soon (presumably within a few hours) microvilli appeared on the surface of the plate and gradually a proper striated border and interdigitation between the cells absent early in regeneration are formed. Within 7-10 days the newly formed epithelium became differentiated and could not be distinguished from normal epithelium by electron microscopy.