title: Compensatory renal growth post fetal nephrectomy in the rabbit.
abstract: Compensatory renal growth post-nephrectomy is well documented both clinically and experimentally. However, little is known about the capacity for compensatory growth in utero. We performed unilateral nephrectomy in fetal rabbits and studied the growth of the contralateral kidney. Thirty fetal rabbits underwent in utero uninephrectomies at day 25 of gestation. On gestational day 28, all the fetuses were delivered by cesarean section and the ratios kidney weight/body weight of the operated fetuses were compared to those of control littermates. The kidneys were then analysed by histology. A significant increase in renal weight was observed. The histological study of the remaining kidneys indicated a statistically significant increase of the glomerular area which confirmed the renal hypertrophy. This experiment demonstrates the capacity for the rabbit to develop in utero compensatory renal growth.
authors.affiliation: Service de Chirurgie Pédiatrique Viscérale, Hôpital d'Enfants, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Abellan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chehade
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Grignon
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Galloy
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fabre
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmitt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D007668:Kidney / Q000196:embryology*; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000196:embryology; D009392:Nephrectomy; D011247:Pregnancy; D011817:Rabbits; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric