Abstract
The influence of hydrocortisone (HC) on the in vitro maturation of human foetal kidney was studied. Following legal therapeutic abortions, explants (2 × 2 mm) of renal cortex from foetuses aged 12-18 weeks, were placed on a lens paper covering a stainless steel grid lying over the central well of a Falcon culture dish. The explants were cultured for 2 and 5 days in serum-free Leibovitz L-15 medium at 37°C in a mixture of 95% air-5% CO2, without hormones (controls) or with HC at concentrations of 12.5, 25 or 50 ng/ml. During the studied period, the overall architecture of the renal structures was preserved without evident signs of nephrogenesis. DNA synthesis was measured by incorporation of 3H-thymidine and was increased on day 5 by 80% with the addition of HC at 12.5 ng/ml and by 131% with 50 ng/ml. The sites of 3H-TdR incorporation were the same after HC addition. The activity of some brush border hydrolases was modified by HC. Gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase activity was reduced by 68% on day 2 and by 42% on day 5 with 12.5 ng of HC. Maltase activity was increased by 19% on day 2 with 50 ng of the hormone. Trehalase activity was reduced by 61% with 12.5 ng and by 50% with 50 ng of HC, on day 5. Alkaline phosphatase activity was decreased on day 2, by 50% with 12.5 ng and by 39% with 25 and 50 ng of HC. This study provides for the first time, basic data on the direct effects of hydrocortisone on proliferation and brush border enzyme activities in the human foetal kidney maintained in organ culture. (MRC of Canada)
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Bertrand, L., Brière, N. EFFECTS OF HYDROCORTISONE ON HUMAN FOETAL KIDNEY IN SERUM-FREE ORGAN CULTURE. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 209 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00260
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00260