Morphological Changes of Renal Corpuscles in Male Mongolian Gerbils at Different Ages

doi:10.12300/j.issn.1674-5817.2024.011

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective By observing and comparing the changes in renal corpuscles at the largest longitudinal section in male Mongolian gerbils of different ages, this study preliminarily explored potential patterns of renal corpuscle changes, providing foundational data for the selection of male Mongolian gerbils for research on the pathogenic mechanisms and drug screening of nephropathy. Methods Kidney samples were collected from male Mongolian gerbils aged 12, 48, and 72 weeks. After making longitudinal cuts along the largest coronal plane in the middle, kidney tissue sections were prepared. Following HE staining, panoramic electronic tissue sections were scanned, and images of renal corpuscles at the largest longitudinal plane were captured using CaseViewer. The areas of renal corpuscles and their glomeruli and renal vesicles were measured. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27, and figures were created using GraphPad Prism 8. Results Compared with the 12-week group, both the area of renal corpuscle (P=0.029) and glomerulus (P=0.001) significantly increased in the 48-week group, while there was no significant change in the area of renal vesicle (P=0.478). The proportion of glomerular area within the renal corpuscle showed an increasing trend but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.163). Compared to the 48-week group, the areas of renal corpuscle, glomerulus, and renal vesicle were all significantly larger in the 72-week group (P<0.001), but the proportion of glomerular area within renal corpuscle decreased significantly (P<0.001). Conclusion The renal corpuscles in male Mongolian gerbils continued to increase from 12 to 72 weeks of age. There might be a certain pattern in this process of enlargement, where the trends of glomerular and renal corpuscle enlargement were relatively consistent. However, the enlargement of renal vesicles appeared to lag behind that of the renal corpuscle. It was speculated that the enlargement of renal corpuscles was mainly caused by the passive enlargement of renal vesicles due to glomerular enlargement. The enlargement of renal corpuscles might be achieved through multiple cycles of "glomerular enlargement - triggering renal vesicle enlargement".

Key words: Male Mongolian gerbil, Renal corpuscles, Glomerulus, Renal vesicle

CLC Number:

Q95-33

LI Meng,CHEN Bai'an,LU Jing. Morphological Changes of Renal Corpuscles in Male Mongolian Gerbils at Different Ages[J]. Laboratory Animal and Comparative Medicine, 2024, 44(5): 487-494. DOI: 10.12300/j.issn.1674-5817.2024.011.

Figures/Tables 5

Figure 1 Hematoxylin and eosin staining results of renal corpuscles of different sizes in male Mongolian gerbils
Note： Images of renal corpuscles with different cross-sectional areas (the area of A-H images are 2 476.0, 3 211.0,, 5 089.6, 6 502.2, 8 534.3, 10 320.7, 13 010.6, 15 427.0, μm 2, respectively) at a magnification of 40 × 10 times (indicated by red arrows), with a scale bar size of 20 μm.

Figure 2 Comparison of sizes of renal corpuscles, glomeruli, and renal vesicles on the largest longitudinal section of the kidneys in male Mongolian gerbils of different ages
Note：30 fields of view were randomly selected from each male Mongolian gerbil, and the areas of 30 sets of renal corpuscles, glomeruli, and renal vesicles were measured (n=6) ; A-C are scatter plots of renal corpuscle, glomerulus, and renal vesicle area at three age groups; D-F are trend charts of renal corpuscle, glomerulus, and renal vesicle area at three age groups.

Figure 3 Comparison of the size of renal corpuscles, glomeruli, and renal vesicles on the largest longitudinal section in a male Mongolian gerbil randomly selected from different age groups
Note： Randomly select one male Mongolian gerbil at each week of age and measure the area of all renal corpuscles, glomeruli, and renal vesicles on the largest longitudinal section of its kidney；236, 302 and 298 sets of renal corpuscles, glomeruli, and renal vesicles were measured at 12 weeks, 48 weeks, and 72 weeks respectively; A-C are scatter plots of renal corpuscle, glomerulus, and renal vesicle area; D-F are trend charts of renal corpuscle, glomerulus, and renal vesicle area.

Figure 4 Hematoxylin and eosin staining results of the different proportion of glomerular in male Mongolian gerbils
Note： Images of renal corpuscles with different proportions of glomeruli at magnification of 40 × 10 times (indicated by red arrows). A: 54.1%; B: 66.9% (bottom left)/69.9% (top right); C: 73.7%; D: 80.9%; E: 83.0%; F: 97.0%, with a scale bar size of 20 μm.

Figure 5 Comparison of the proportion of glomerular area on the largest longitudinal section of the kidneys in male Mongolian gerbils of different ages
Note： A and C are scatter plots of glomerular proportions; B and D are the trend charts of glomerular proportion. A-B 30 fields of view were randomly selected from each male Mongolian gerbil, and the areas of 30 sets of renal corpuscles, glomeruli, and renal vesicles were measured (n=6) ; C-D, One male Mongolian gerbil was randomly selected at each week of age, and the area of all renal corpuscles, glomeruli, and renal vesicle of on the largest longitudinal section of the kidneys was measured. 236, 302 and 298 sets of renal corpuscles, glomeruli, and renal vesicles were measured at 12 weeks, 48 weeks, and 72 weeks respectively. The ratio of glomeruli to renal corpusde area was calculated.

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