A technique has been developed for the quantitative estimation of perfusible glomeruli in the normal and diseased kidney. This technique is a modification of that originally described by Cook and Pickering (5). It entails the perfusion of the intact or excised kidney under standardized conditions with magnetic oxide of iron, which specifically localizes in the glomerular capillaries. The kidney is then emulsified and ground through a 100-mesh copper wire sieve and passed through an electromagnetic field. The magnetized glomeruli adhere to the glass under the influence of the magnetic field, the rest of the suspension passing through. The suspension is run through the electromagnetic field four or five times with the recovery of at least 90% of the glomeruli. The glomeruli are suspended in 30% aqueous solution of PVP and counted under microscopic vision on a scored glass microscope slide. The perfusible glomeruli and creatinine clearance of rats, ages 1 to 18 months and rabbits, ages 1 week to six months, have been determined and indicate that in the rat there is no increase in glomerular counts with maturation (mean 3.78 × 104); GFR per glomerulus reaches the adult level by four weeks. In the rabbit the number of perfusible glomeruli increased from 5.5 × 104 at one week to the adult level of 19.3 × 104 at 1 month. There is a progressive increase in GFR per glomerulus from one week through six months, thus indicating the pattern of structural and functional maturation of the glomerulus in rat and rabbit. The collagen and non-collagen nitrogen in these animals was also studied. The techniques appear applicable to the study of the diseased kidney.
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Strassberg et al. (2008) studied this question.