Glomerular architectural changes after a two‐hour infusion of norepinephrine

Alterations in glomerular architecture have been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of several models of acute renal failure. In this study, mongrel dogs were subjected to an intrarenal infusion of norepinephrine for 2 hours. Light microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used to describe glomerular architecture 2 days after the initial norepinephrine infusion. In addition, scanning electron microscopy was used to quantitate the percentage of “abnormal areas” in glomerular capillary‐loop morphology in both norepinephrine‐infused kidneys and the contralateral control kidneys. Alterations in glomerular structure in these experiments appeared to be much less extensive than previously reported. A variable amount of glomerular pedical shape simplification was seen, which involved about 15% of the capillary loop Quantitative evaluation revealed abnormal morphology of 15.2% ± 0.6% of the glomerular capillary loop in the norepinephrine‐infused kidneys, compared to 2.9% ± 0.4 abnormal loop structure in the contralateral control kidneys (P <0.001). It is concluded that alterations in glomerular structure are not extensive in this model.