HISTOMORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF GLOMERULI AND CAPILLARIES DENSITY IN THE INTERSTITIUM IN PREIMPLANTATION NEEDLE BIOPSIES OF PAIRED KIDNEYS HARVESTED FROM ADULT CADAVERIC DONORS

Abstract Background and Aims Preimplantation needle biopsy of kidney allows more precise interpretation of subsequent kidney biopsies performed after transplantation and potentially also may predict kidney graft survival. It is unknown, whether it is justified to perform the biopsy of one kidney only and then to transmit obtained results also to the second kidney or biopsies of both kidneys are mandatory. The aim of the study was to assess differences regarding glomerular volume, glomerular density and capillary density in the interstitium of both kidneys harvested from the same deceased donor. Method The study involved 40 pairs of kidneys (all together 80 kidneys) in which preimplantation kidney biopsies were performed. Kidneys were harvested from 40 deceased donors (17 females and 23 males; mean age 42.3 [37.6-47.0] years old) died because of intracranial haemorrhage (17 donors) or cerebral trauma due to accident (23 donors). Histomorphometric analysis was performed using “Olympus BX51” microscope (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) coupled with “Olympus BX50” camera and the “cellSens Standard” software (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan). Weibel-Gomez formula was adapted to calculate glomerular volume. Results No significant differences were found between mean kidneys length [115.8 (112.4-119.1) vs.115.5 (112.5-118.5) mm], glomerular volume [2.59 (2.24-2.93) vs 2.49 (2.15-2.84) μm3 x106 ], glomerular density [3.43 (3.07-3.80) vs 3.24 (2.87-3.61) n/mm2] and interstitial capillaries density [233.58 (211.26) vs 217.80 (199.45-236.47) n/mm2] of both kidneys harvested from the same deceased donor. Conclusions 1. Both kidneys harvested from the same deceased donor did not differ significantly in kidney length, glomerular volume, glomerular density and capillary density. 2. Our results justify to preimplantation biopsy of only one kidney and the results from the histomorphometric analysis may be used in the future also for assessment of the second kidney.