Light and electron microscopic changes in the kidney of Wistar rats following treatment with cyclosporine A.

The morphological changes found in kidneys of patients undergoing chronic Cyclosporine A (CSA) treatment could, despite of numerous attempts, not yet be reproduced in reliable experimental models. The purpose of the present investigation was to systematically scan the in vivo fixed kidneys in CSA treated Wistar rats at the light and electron microscopic level. The study revealed changes in the proximal tubules, i.e., inclusion bodies, vacuolization, microcalcifications and regeneration. Some glomeruli displayed a thickening of the parietal sheet of Bowman's capsule. At the electron microscopic level, individual necroses of myocytes in the tunica media of afferent arterioles were observed. Thus, at the ultrastructural level, the kidneys of CSA treated normotensive Wistar rats do reveal morphological changes similar to those occurring in man.