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A Stereological Study of Key Histological Structures in the Kidneys of Rats from Young to Old Age

Received: 13 November 2021    Accepted: 29 November 2021    Published: 24 December 2021
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Abstract

Quantitative (morphometric) study of the total amounts (per organ) and mean sizes of histological structures in individuals from young to old are essential for the understanding of age-related organ changes; stereological techniques are essential, reliable tools to obtain the quantitative data. Stereological study of all renal components, especially renal tubules, was lacking in age-related kidney studies and few studies used rats older than 24 months of age for a stereological analysis of the aging kidney. In the present study isotropic uniform random renal sections (methacrylate-embedded) were obtained from male Sprague-Dawley rats (89 per age-group) randomly sampled from a single cohort of normal animals at the ages of 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively. The sections were measured using various stereological methods to estimate the total amounts (per kidney) or mean sizes of key renal structures. The results demonstrated that the volume of kidney and the total volume or length of renal tubules increased continually from 3 to 24 months of age and then plateaued between 24 and 36 months of age. The total volume of renal corpuscles, glomeruli, Bowman’s space or interstitial tissue and the mean volume of renal corpuscles or glomeruli increased continually from 3 to 24 months and further until 36 months of age. The total number of glomeruli remained essentially constant and the relative volume of the cortex or medulla and the relative length of different segments of the renal tubules remained basically stable throughout the ages. Less than 5% of the renal corpuscular or tubular profiles were apparently atrophied at 24 or 36 months of age. The age-related results suggested that the rat renal tissues continued to develop adaptively or work actively, from young to old, to maintain normal physiological functions and the aging change in the kidney was primarily a compensatory or hypertrophic histological change.

Published in International Journal of Clinical Urology (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19
Page(s) 94-107
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Rats, Kidney, Renal Corpuscles, Renal Tubules, Development, Aging, Histology, Stereology

References
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  • APA Style

    Dan Wang, Yang Guo, Yangyou Li, Xiaohong Wen, Zhengwei Yang. (2021). A Stereological Study of Key Histological Structures in the Kidneys of Rats from Young to Old Age. International Journal of Clinical Urology, 5(2), 94-107. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19

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    ACS Style

    Dan Wang; Yang Guo; Yangyou Li; Xiaohong Wen; Zhengwei Yang. A Stereological Study of Key Histological Structures in the Kidneys of Rats from Young to Old Age. Int. J. Clin. Urol. 2021, 5(2), 94-107. doi: 10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19

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    AMA Style

    Dan Wang, Yang Guo, Yangyou Li, Xiaohong Wen, Zhengwei Yang. A Stereological Study of Key Histological Structures in the Kidneys of Rats from Young to Old Age. Int J Clin Urol. 2021;5(2):94-107. doi: 10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19,
      author = {Dan Wang and Yang Guo and Yangyou Li and Xiaohong Wen and Zhengwei Yang},
      title = {A Stereological Study of Key Histological Structures in the Kidneys of Rats from Young to Old Age},
      journal = {International Journal of Clinical Urology},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {94-107},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijcu.20210502.19},
      abstract = {Quantitative (morphometric) study of the total amounts (per organ) and mean sizes of histological structures in individuals from young to old are essential for the understanding of age-related organ changes; stereological techniques are essential, reliable tools to obtain the quantitative data. Stereological study of all renal components, especially renal tubules, was lacking in age-related kidney studies and few studies used rats older than 24 months of age for a stereological analysis of the aging kidney. In the present study isotropic uniform random renal sections (methacrylate-embedded) were obtained from male Sprague-Dawley rats (89 per age-group) randomly sampled from a single cohort of normal animals at the ages of 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively. The sections were measured using various stereological methods to estimate the total amounts (per kidney) or mean sizes of key renal structures. The results demonstrated that the volume of kidney and the total volume or length of renal tubules increased continually from 3 to 24 months of age and then plateaued between 24 and 36 months of age. The total volume of renal corpuscles, glomeruli, Bowman’s space or interstitial tissue and the mean volume of renal corpuscles or glomeruli increased continually from 3 to 24 months and further until 36 months of age. The total number of glomeruli remained essentially constant and the relative volume of the cortex or medulla and the relative length of different segments of the renal tubules remained basically stable throughout the ages. Less than 5% of the renal corpuscular or tubular profiles were apparently atrophied at 24 or 36 months of age. The age-related results suggested that the rat renal tissues continued to develop adaptively or work actively, from young to old, to maintain normal physiological functions and the aging change in the kidney was primarily a compensatory or hypertrophic histological change.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - A Stereological Study of Key Histological Structures in the Kidneys of Rats from Young to Old Age
    AU  - Dan Wang
    AU  - Yang Guo
    AU  - Yangyou Li
    AU  - Xiaohong Wen
    AU  - Zhengwei Yang
    Y1  - 2021/12/24
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19
    T2  - International Journal of Clinical Urology
    JF  - International Journal of Clinical Urology
    JO  - International Journal of Clinical Urology
    SP  - 94
    EP  - 107
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2640-1355
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijcu.20210502.19
    AB  - Quantitative (morphometric) study of the total amounts (per organ) and mean sizes of histological structures in individuals from young to old are essential for the understanding of age-related organ changes; stereological techniques are essential, reliable tools to obtain the quantitative data. Stereological study of all renal components, especially renal tubules, was lacking in age-related kidney studies and few studies used rats older than 24 months of age for a stereological analysis of the aging kidney. In the present study isotropic uniform random renal sections (methacrylate-embedded) were obtained from male Sprague-Dawley rats (89 per age-group) randomly sampled from a single cohort of normal animals at the ages of 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively. The sections were measured using various stereological methods to estimate the total amounts (per kidney) or mean sizes of key renal structures. The results demonstrated that the volume of kidney and the total volume or length of renal tubules increased continually from 3 to 24 months of age and then plateaued between 24 and 36 months of age. The total volume of renal corpuscles, glomeruli, Bowman’s space or interstitial tissue and the mean volume of renal corpuscles or glomeruli increased continually from 3 to 24 months and further until 36 months of age. The total number of glomeruli remained essentially constant and the relative volume of the cortex or medulla and the relative length of different segments of the renal tubules remained basically stable throughout the ages. Less than 5% of the renal corpuscular or tubular profiles were apparently atrophied at 24 or 36 months of age. The age-related results suggested that the rat renal tissues continued to develop adaptively or work actively, from young to old, to maintain normal physiological functions and the aging change in the kidney was primarily a compensatory or hypertrophic histological change.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Histology and Embryology, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China

  • Morphometric Research Laboratory, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China

  • Department of Experimental Zoology, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China

  • Department of Histology and Embryology, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China

  • Morphometric Research Laboratory, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China

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