title: Effect of spironolactone treatment on the ultrastructure of cortical intercalated cells in the rat kidney.
abstract: The ultrastructure of intercalated cells in the rat renal cortex was investigated after 7 days of treatment with the mineralocorticoid inhibitor spironolactone. In untreated and treated animals, two subgroups of IC cells (A-IC and B-IC) could be recognized by electron microscopy, but a substantial fraction of IC cells that corresponded to neither A nor B forms, so-called NonA-NonB, was also found. After spironolactone treatment, qualitative and morphometric analyses showed a decrease in volume density of mitochondria, in cell cross-sectional area, and in boundary length of basolateral membranes in A-IC cells. Among the NonA-NonB-IC cells, some revealed especially abundant mitochondria. Although the frequency of NonA-NonB-IC cells did not change significantly, these mitochondria-rich cells appeared with increased frequency after spironolactone treatment. The ultrastructural changes in A-IC cells might reflect a direct effect of spironolactone on the A-IC cells. However, it is also conceivable that the changes are secondary to functional alterations induced in neighboring segment-specific cells by the experimental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dørup
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kaissling
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007672:Kidney Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D007684:Kidney Tubules / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007685:Kidney Tubules, Collecting / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008901:Mineralocorticoids / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012964:Sodium / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D013148:Spironolactone / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D008901:Mineralocorticoids; D013148:Spironolactone; D012964:Sodium