IMAGE ANALYZER AS A TOOL FOR THE STUDY OF IN-VITRO GLOMERULAR VASOREACTIVITY

Many drugs used in clinics can dramatically reduce renal hemodynamics. For some years there have been developed in our laboratory two in vit ro glomerular models, isolated glomeruli and mesangial cell cultures, to quantitate, by video image analyzer, the direct glomerular effect o f vasoreactive agents. The present study shows the vasoconstrictive ef fects of angiotensin II and cyclosporin in both models and compares th eir glomerular vasoconstriction with or without vasodilating agents su ch as verapamil. This drug-induced glomerular vasoreactivity is time- and dose-dependent; moreover, it can be reversible after perfusion in control conditions. The interest of these in vitro glomerular models i s validated by fair correlations between in vivo and in vitro data and between the responses of both. These models can be considered as tool s for assessing glomerular vasoreactivity of nephrotoxic agents.