Cyclosporin induced effects on foetal kidney in albino mice

Cyclosporin A [CsA] is an immunosuppressive agent which is used to prevent graft rejection and to treat autoimmune disorders. Its teratogenic effects remain unexplored despite its extensive use even during pregnancy. Current study was, therefore, undertaken to investigate the effects of CsA on the developing kidney. Twelve pregnant mice were divided into two groups, A and B, having six animals each. Cyclosporin was freshly prepared in normal saline daily and administered subcutaneously by a single dose of 50 mg/kg in the morning to experimental group B during pregnancy from day 0 to day 18. The control group A was given comparable volume of normal saline only. The pregnant mice were sacrificed at the end of experimental period. The foetal kidneys were dissected and fixed in 10% formalin for histological preparations. The results showed that weight of the foetuses and their kidneys exposed to CsA was consistently reduced. The mean weight of the foetuses exposed to CsA was 1.34 +/- 0.08 g as compared to 1.48 +/- 0.18 g in the control group whereas the mean kidney weight from CsA treated group was 9.47 +/- 0.27 mg when compared to the control having 10.79 +/- 0.53 mg. Morphometric analysis revealed reduction in total number of glomeruli and hypertrophy of remaining glomeruli. The total number of glomeruli/mm[2] in the kidneys from CsA treated group was 26.85 +/- 4.43 as compared to 41.33 +/- 3.66 from the control group and the mean diameter of glomeruli from the foetuses of groups A and B was 7.11 +/- 0.47 mm and 8.66 +/- 0.63 mm respectively; the differences between the groups A and B of the animals on all the parameters above were statistically significant [p<0.000]. The results of the investigation indicated that CsA administration to the pregnant dams produced deleterious effects of on the developing kidney in mice. On the analogy of the results, comparable effects of CsA are expected in case of human; this, however, needs further investigations

Teratogenic effects of lead acetate on kidney

Lead remains a considerable occupational and public health problem, which is known to cause a number of adverse effects in both men and women. Conflicting reports have appeared on lead induced nephrotoxicity in experimental studies in the past. There is hardly any work on its teratogenic effects on kidney. Present study was therefore designed to investigate the effects of lead acetate on developing kidney. Twelve mice were used as experimental model and were divided into two groups of six animals each; group A served as control group and B was used as an experimental group. Lead acetate [10 mg/kg] dissolved in 0.02 ml of distilled water was administered as a single daily dose orally to group B whereas weight related amount of distilled water was given to group A for the entire period of experiment. On 18[th] day of gestation foetuses were dissected free of uterine wall under the dissecting microscope and were sacrificed; kidneys were removed and fixed in 10% formalin, dehydrated in ascending grades of alcohol, cleared in xylene and infiltrated with filtered paraffin. The paraffin blocks were made and five micron thin sections were obtained using a rotary microtome. The sections were stained with Hematoxylin and eosin and, PAS; these were examined under light microscope. Significant decrease in cortical thickness was observed which varied from 578.6 +/- 1.4 micro m in group A to 515.6 +/- 5 micro m in group B [p<0.001]. Diameter of renal corpuscles varied from 57.7 +/- 0.07 micro m in group A to 50.5 +/- 0.07 micro m in group B [p<0.001]. Moderate cortical tubular atrophy showing thickening of endothelial basement membrane in glomeruli, desquamated epithelium with degenerated nuclei in proximal and distal tubules were observed in group B in contrast to group A. The results of the investigation indicated that lead acetate administration to the dams produced deleterious effects on the developing kidney in mice