Summary
Fifty Juxtaglomerular apparatuses (JGA) from 6 normal rats of two different strains (BD9 and Sprague-Dawley) were studied with serial section technique after vascular perfusion with 1% Glutaraldehyde and embedding in Plexiglass.
The macula densa basal area and the contact area between macula densa and the Goormaghtigh cell field were significantly greater in the BD9 rats than in the Sprague-Dawley rats, The contact area between the efferent arteriole and the Goormaghtigh cell field was greater in the Sprague-Dawley than in the BD9 rats. The contact area between the afferent arteriole and the Goormaghtigh cell field was equal in both strains of rat.
Significant correlation was found in both strains between the size of the macula densa basal area and its contact area with the Goormaghtigh cells. Similarly there was a significant correlation of the area of contact between the Goormaghtigh cells and the macula densa on the one side and with the afferent arteriole on the other. No correlation was found with the efferent arteriole.
Direct contact between macula densa and the arterioles was not present in all Juxtaglomerular apparatuses. It occurred in the BD9 rats in 92% on the afferent and in 52% on the efferent side. In the Sprague-Dawley rats direct contact between macula densa and the arterioles occurred in 59% with the afferent and 72% with the efferent arteriole.
Epithelioid cells were found in the preglomerular segment of the afferent arterioles. They replaced the smooth muscle cells in the whole thickness of the media.
The results point to the Goormaghtigh cells as the morphological link between the tubular and vascular parts of the Juxtaglomerular apparatus.
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Christensen, J.A., Bohle, A. The juxtaglomerular apparatus in the normal rat kidney. Virchows Arch. A Path. Anat. and Histol. 379, 143–150 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00432483
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00432483