TABLE 1

Histopathological analysis of kidneys from wild-type and Nrf2-null mice after cisplatin

Kidneys were removed 4 days after cisplatin (18 or 25 mg/kg i.p.) or vehicle injection and fixed in zinc formalin before paraffin embedding and staining with hematoxylin and eosin. Kidney slices were evaluated for the severity of degeneration and necrosis in proximal tubule segments. Histopathology scoring of renal proximal tubule degeneration and necrosis by a veterinary pathologist: no injury = grade 0; minimal injury (less than 10% of cells with degeneration or necrosis) = grade 1; mild injury involving 10–25% of cells = grade 2; moderate injury involving 25–40% of cells = grade 3; marked injury involving 40–50% of cells = grade 4; severe injury involving greater than 50% of cells = grade 5. The number of mice with a particular histopathological grade is shown in each column. Mice with grades ≥2 are considered to have significant kidney injury. The ratio of mice with grades ≥2 compared to the total number of mice is presented as percentages in the right column. Histopathology grades were rank-ordered prior to statistical analysis.

Histopathology GradePercent of Mice with Grades of 2 or Greater
012345
Wild-type
    Control8000000
    Cisplatin (18 mg/kg)111200014*
    Cisplatin (25 mg/kg)16220246*
Nrf2-null
    Control8000000
    Cisplatin (18 mg/kg)03125175*
    Cisplatin (25 mg/kg)01001789*
  • * Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) compared with genotype control mice.

  • Statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) from cisplatin-treated wild-type mice.