Pyelonephritis. 18. Effect of treatment on the pathology of enterococcal pyelonephritis in the rat.

The effect of antimicrobial therapy on the histopathologic progression of experimental hematogenous pyelonephritis induced in rats by Streptococcus faecalis was studied. Treatment sufficient to render the renal parenchyma sterile strikingly decreased the incidence and severity of calyceal lesions, delayed the progression of papillary lesions but had little effect on the severity of cortical interstitial and tubular alterations. L-forms could not be demonstrated to participate in the pathogenesis of these lesions. Kanamycin had an independent nephrotoxic effect which complicated interpretation of the effect of therapy in animals receiving this agent.