A quantitative evaluation of anticoagulants in experimental nephrotoxic nephritis.

The protective effects of anticoagulants in nephrotoxic nephritis in rabbits have been studied, using various doses of heparin and defibrination with ancrod. Massive doses of heparin (2000 units/kg/day) were required before significant reduction in glomerular fibrin deposition, extracepillary cell proliferation and urea retention occurred. Doses of 300 and 1000 units/kg/day were insufficient to modify fibrin deposition and cell proliferation. Defibrination with ancrod provided protection, judged by histological and functional criteria, comparable to 2000 units of heparin/kg/day; but fibrin could still be demonstrated in the glomeruli of animals treated with 2000 units of heparin/kg/day, contrasting with the virtual absence of fibrin in animals given ancrod.