The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing is an academic center affiliated with the Division of Toxicological Sciences in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

Research Grants 1983-1984

The Use of Cultured Renal Medullary and Glomerular Cells as an Alternative to Evaluating Animals for Chemically Related Nephrotoxicity

Peter H. Bach, PhD
University of Surrey, Guildford, England

Problem

The kidneys, because of their complex array of physiological functions, are a frequent site of target-organ toxicity. All too often, however, it is this immense complexity that makes it almost impossible to identify relatively subtle functional and structural renal changes following chemical exposure. Attempts to undertake safety evaluation on potentially nephrotoxic compounds have been fraught with many problems.

Impact of the Research

The proposal will examine morphological and biochemical parameters unique to the kidney and will assess functional changes with known nephrotoxic agents. Most importantly, the application of these culture systems to the study of kidney medullary toxicity offers the potential to develop more rapid, specific and reliable methods for the evaluation of nephrotoxins than can be accomplished in vivo.