Influences of Anti-tuberculous Agents and Cortisone on Renal Tuberculosis Induced in Rabbit

Park, Key Ha; Lee, Hak Song

Abstract

Effect of cortisone on renal tuberculosis induced experimentally in rabbit and influence of the hormone on the effect of anti-tuberculous agents have been studied. Tubercle bacilli, bovine 123 strain. was inoculated into the rabbit kidneys to induce renal tuberculosis. In one group (A) bacilli were inoculated into the left kidney and into the both kidneys in another group (B). Treatments were started on the 10th post-inoculation day in the former group and on the 50th day in the latter group. Rabbits were divided into four experimental groupsas follows and treatments were continued for one month. After one week of observation animals were sacrificed and kidneys. lunge, livers, spleens and lymphnodes were studied on their tuberculous changes.1. Control. no treatment.2. Injection with cortisone acetate 10mg3. Injection with streptomycin 100mg. and INAH 23.6 mg.4. Injection with streptomycin 100mg. INAH 23.6 mg. and cortisone acetate 10mg.The animals were weighed and tubercle bacilli in the urine were studied every week during the experiment. The following results were obtained: 1) Body weight. Comparing with the control, animals receiving cortisone revealed marked decrease in body weight, while animals receiving anti-tuberculous agents increased their body weights. The animals receiving both cortisone and anti-tuberculous agents showed a decrease in body weight. 2) Urinary tubercle bacilli. After 4 weeks of inoculation, the bacilli were positive in urine. The control and the cortisone receiving animals in both groups A and B manifestated positive bacilli in urine and animals in group A receiving anti-tuberculous agents and both cortisone plus anti-tuberculous agents showed no bacilli in urine. In group B, bacilli were positive in animals receiving anti-tuberculous agents or both cortisone plus anti-tuberculous agents after 30 days of treatment. 3) Tuberculin test. Tuberculin test was weakened or negative after administering cortisone in tuberculous animals 4) Pathological histology. In group A, there was no significant changes between the control and the animals with cortisone. All showed wide-spread tuberculous lesions. Very slight changes were observed in animals receiving anti-tuberculous agents or both anti-tuberculous agents and cortisone, and the lesion showed improvement. Microscopically, animals receiving both anti-tuberculous agents and cortisone revealed cloudy swelling and simple necrosis throughout but no cellular infiltration in the kidney tissue. The affect of treatment was more apparent than in the animals receiving only anti-tuberculous agents. In the group B, lesions in the animals receiving cortisone was more marked than in the control animals. Macroscopically, no significant changes were observed both in the animals receiving cortisone and anti-tuberculous agents, and ones receiving only anti-tuberculous agents. However, microscopically, the former animals showed less fibrosis and calcification than the latters. Dissemination of tuberculous lesion to other organs was not influenced by administration of cortisone but prohibited by anti-tuberculous agents.