Nephrotoxicity of mild analgesics in the Gunn strain of rat.

1 Homozygous members of the Gunn strain of rat, mutant Wistars jaundiced from lack of the enzyme uridine diphosphate glucuronyl transferase, are highly susceptible to analgesic-induced renal papillary necrosis. 2 A single oral dose of aspirin, phenacetin or paracetamol will produce the lesion, a circumstance which does not occur in other strains. 3 The reasons for this susceptibility have not been determined, but the experimental model should prove useful in further studies of the nephrotoxicity of analgesic drugs.