Acute renal failure produced by combining cyclosporine and brief renal ischemia in the Munich Wistar rat.

To evaluate the combined effects of a brief ischemic insult and cyclosporine, four groups of male Munich Wistar rats were given: a) parenteral cyclosporine (60 mg/kg i.p.) for 4 days following 20 minutes of bilateral renal ischemia, b) the castor oil cyclosporine vehicle in a comparable volume and the same ischemic insult, c) saline in the same volume and ischemia, or d) saline and sham surgery. The cyclosporine animals ate and drank poorly, and therefore the other groups were pair-fed and watered with them. The cyclosporine-ischemia group developed significant renal failure. The other groups exhibited only a mild rise in blood urea nitrogen. Tubular vacuolization was a prominent feature in the cyclosporine and vehicle groups, but not in the saline groups. Vacuolization was correlated with severity of renal impairment. Lipid stains showed that many of the vacuoles contained lipid. Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusions were seen only in the cyclosporine or vehicle- (castor oil) treated animals. These findings emphasize the probable functional importance of tubular lesions in cyclosporine-induced acute renal failure, and suggest that the castor oil vehicle of parenteral cyclosporine may have renal effects of its own.