Epithelial cell division in acute renal failure: A radio-autographic study in the oesophagus of the mouse

Abstract

Abstract The effect of acute renal failure, induced by intraperitoneal injection of the nephrotoxic agent uranyl nitrate or by urinary obstruction, upon cell division in the epithelium of the oesophagus was investigated in mice. Radio-autography with tritiated thymidine demonstrated that inhibition of cell division was pronounced when acute renal failure was severe and that less severe degrees of renal failure did not always inhibit cell division in this epithelial tissue. In conjunction with previous investigations it would appear that acute renal failure inhibits cell division in rapidly proliferating tissues. Inhibition of epithelial cell division may be a contributing factor in the development of uraemic lesions in the digestive tract.