Effects of Acute Renal Failure on Ileal Epithelial Cell Kinetics: Autoradiographic Studies in the Mouse

Abstract

Abstract Effects of acute renal failure on ileal epithelial cell kinetics were investigated by autoradiography with tritiated thymidine in mice. Acute renal failure was produced by urinary outflow obstruction and controls subjected to sham operation. At 18 hr, the labeling index, mitotic index, and percentage of goblet and Paneth cells in the crypt cell population were estimated. The distribution of proliferating cells was obtained by determining the percentage of labeled cells at each cell position in the crypt cell columns. The cell cycle was analyzed by the method of percentage of labeled metaphases. A reduction in labeling index was found in the uremic group ( P 2 period, plus prophase and half the metaphase duration, was 1.6 hr. The deoxyribonucleic acid synthetic phase was prolonged to 14.5 hr, and the G 2 period unaltered in the uremic group. It is concluded that acute renal failure causes an inhibition of intestinal epithelial cell proliferation in mice which is associated with prolongation of the deoxyribonucleic acid synthetic phase and the cell cycle.