[Morphologic and molecular evidence of apoptosis during reperfusion phase after brief period of renal ischemia].

A multiparametric analysis was made to demonstrate that brief period of ischemia can initiate extensive loss in a rat kidney through the process of apoptosis during early reperfusion. Microscopic examination of mouse renal tissues subject to a 5, 30, or 45 minute period of complete ischemia showed the presence of apoptotic bodies both within and occasionally between renal tubular, appearing as early 6 hours after reperfusion and increasing in numbers at 12 hours. Furthermore, DNA extracted from such reperfusion renal tissue demonstrated the appearance of a distinct "ladder pattern" of DNA fragments after electrophoresis in agarose gels. It was suggested that renal reperfusion injury after ischemia can initiate a form of cell death-apoptosis that is drastically different from cellular necrosis induced by prolonged severe ischemia.