title: Glomerular architectural changes after a two-hour infusion of norepinephrine.
abstract: Alterations in glomerular architecture have been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of several models of acute renal failure. In this study, mongrel dogs were subjected to an intrarenal infusion of norepinephrine for 2 hours. Light microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used to describe glomerular architecture 2 days after the initial norepinephrine infusion. In addition, scanning electron microscopy was used to quantitate the percentage of "abnormal areas" in glomerular capillary-loop morphology in both norepinephrine-infused kidneys and the contralateral control kidneys. Alterations in glomerular structure in these experiments appeared to be much less extensive than previously reported. A variable amount of glomerular pedical shape simplification was seen, which involved about 15% of the capillary loop. Quantitative evaluation revealed abnormal morphology of 15.2% +/- 0.6% of the glomerular capillary loop in the norepinephrine-infused kidneys, compared to 2.9% +/- 0.4 abnormal loop structure in the contralateral control kidneys (P less than 0.001). It is concluded that alterations in glomerular structure are not extensive in this model.
mesh_terms: D058186:Acute Kidney Injury / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007261:Infusions, Intra-Arterial; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012077:Renal Artery
chemical_list: D009638:Norepinephrine