Urothelial lesions in mice given 4-ethylsulfonylnaphthalene-1-sulfonamide, acetazolamide, and oxamide.

4-Ethylsulfonylnaphthalene-1-sulfonamide, acetazolamide and oxamide were administered in the diet to female BALB/c mice for varying periods of time from three to eighty weeks. All three compounds induced lesions in the urothelium. In the bladder, these included simple hyperplasia, nodular hyperplasia, inflammation and calculi. Similar lesions were observed in the ureter and urethra, along with a novel lesion, diverticulum, in the ureter. The diverticular lesions existed as down-growths of the transitional epithelium which often extended from the mucosa through the muscle layers to the adventitial surface. The etiology of the lesions appeared to be related to urinary physiological alterations (crystalluria, calculi, hypoosmolality) caused by administration of the compounds.