Gentamicin-induced stimulation of DNA synthesis in rat kidney. Comparison between in vivo and in vitro models.

We have performed combined in vivo and in vitro measurements of thymidine uptake into kidney cortex DNA of animals treated with gentamicin for 7 days at 10 or 20 mg/kg daily (BID). Labelled thymidine is taken up by cortex fragments in vitro (90 min incubation) and incorporated into DNA; treatment of the animals with gentamicin results in a significant dose-dependent enhancement of this in vitro thymidine incorporation; labelled cells are found primarily in the proximal tubules and interstitium; there is an excellent correlation (r : 0.983, n = 15) between the changes of incorporation measured in vivo and in vitro as demonstrated by the sequential use of [3H]thymidine (in vivo) and [14C]thymidine (in vitro) within the same animals.