Penicillium aurantiogriseum-induced, persistent renal histopathological changes in rats; an experimental model for Balkan endemic nephropathy competitive with ochratoxin A.

Renal histopathological changes in rats, caused by food partially moulded by a common fungus isolated from an area of nephropathy in Yugoslavia, were differentiated into acute and chronic responses. The acute response to a few days on the diet specifically involved necrosis and concomitant mitosis in proximal tubule cells. More protracted, continuous or intermittent administration of nephrotoxic mould led to a marked karyomegaly in the same corticomedullary region. The phenomenon is more prominent than that induced by treatment with ochratoxin A over a similar period, raising the question of the putative role of such mycotoxins in the etiology of chronic human renal disease.