Figure 1
A. Renal cortex of rats after 12 weeks of treatment with cyclosporine A, cyclosporine A in combination with eplerenone, or controls receiving vehicle only. In a CsA treated rat, the tissue shows diffuse interstitial inflammation, atrophic tubules, and a sclerotic glomerulus. CsA+EPL treated rat kidney section appears normal and not different from control-vehicle with respect to morphology of the glomerulus, arterioles, and tubules. PAS x100. B. Section of renal cortex of rats after 12 weeks of treatment with cyclosporine A, cyclosporine A in combination with eplerenone, or controls receiving vehicle only. In a CsA treated rat there is massive hyaline arteriolar vacuolization whereas after CsA and EPL treatment the hyaline arteriolar vacuolization appears less pronounced and widespread and not very different from a control-vehicle rat. PAS x200. C. Stereological quantitation of the volume fraction (Vv) of tubules in renal cortex of rats receiving 12 weeks of treatment with cyclosporine A (n=8) or cyclosporine A in combination with eplerenone (n=9) compared to vehicle- controls (n=11). Values were obtained by a blinded cast-grid analysis counting eighty frames from each individual rat. PAS x100. CsA: Cyclosporine A. EPL: Eplerenone. *) p<0.05 when compared to the control group. D. Volume fractions (Vv) of the interstitium in renal cortex of rats receiving 12 weeks of treatment with cyclosporine A (n=8) or cyclosporine A in combination with eplerenone (n=9) compared to controls (n=11). CsA: Cyclosporine A. EPL: Eplerenone. *) p<0.05 when compared to the control group.