Abstract
During a study of the influence of environmental temperature upon the metabolic rate and certain organ weights of the albino rat a number of these animals were maintained at room temperature of 5° and 10°C. When they were killed it was noticed that the kidneys of many were swollen, soft and mottled in appearance. Fig 1. Histological examination revealed an interesting lesion in their kidneys. Besides its inherent interest it seemed desirable to report the occurrence of this lesion because of the common belief that exposure to cold is often associated with the onset of one form of Bright's disease in man. That the renal lesion reported here was acutally due to the cold environment seems certain for only 0.015% of the kidneys from 26,000 animals of the same stock raised at ordinary temperatures have shown any renal pathology.
Eighteen young adult rats, 9 males and 9 females were kept 3 in a cage at a constant environmental temperature of 5°C. for 90 days. By this time 7 were dead. Two of these were examined and both had mottled soft kidneys. Of the 11 which remained 4 showed the presence of the renal lesion grossly. Twenty-four young adult rats, 12 males and 12 females were kept under the same conditions as the first group at a temperature of 10°C. for 90 days. When they were killed 6 showed quite obviously the renal lesion to be described here.
Microscopic examination reveals depressed areas in the superficial part of the cortex which appear to be due to partial collapse of the tubules in these areas with necrosis and desquamation of the epithelial cells. Some of the cells are shrunken and clumped together so that they appear as partly fused cellular masses in which the nuclei are very hyperchromatic and closely crowded.
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