title: Spontaneous glomerulonephritis in Göttingen minipigs.
abstract: The Göttingen minipig is one of the nonrodent species recommended by various regulatory authorities for safety assessment of drugs in preclinical studies. In such studies, knowledge of background pathology is critical in order to evaluate the potential renal toxicity. In the present study, the authors report 4 cases of glomerulonephritis out of 154 microbiologically defined Göttingen minipigs microscopically evaluated in preclinical studies. One animal required early sacrifice because of general poor health, and an additional animal died spontaneously. Histopathological evaluation revealed renal lesions in all 4 animals, exhibiting membranous or membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis at different stages, accompanied by secondary tubulo-interstitial damage. The renal changes observed were considered spontaneous in origin and of unknown etiology. Development of this condition in this strain should be considered in future studies.
authors.affiliation: RTC-Research Toxicology Centre S.p.A., Pomezia, Rome, Italy. enrico.vezzali@tin.it
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vezzali
authors.forename: Rosa Anna
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Manno
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Salerno
authors.forename: Germano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oberto
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nyska
authors.forename: Yuval
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ramot
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001247:Asthenia / Q000473:pathology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005260:Female; D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006417:Hematuria / Q000473:pathology; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D013556:Swine, Miniature; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods; D015262:Xenobiotics / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D015262:Xenobiotics; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase