A spontaneous glomerular lesion in the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus).

This report describes an atrophic glomerular lesion occurring spontaneously in golden and black eared cream Syrian hamsters. The severity of the lesion appeared to be age-related, and was also increased by certain hormone treatments. The appearance of the urinary space suggested an association of the lesion with proteinuria, but examination of the podocytes in the transmission and scanning electron microscopes did not support this. Assessment of the relative mean diameter of the glomerular tufts using the scanning electron microscope showed size of the normal glomerular tuft was probably age-related.