The distribution of renin-containing cells shifts from the deep cortex in fetuses to the superficial cortex after birth, which may relate to the transition to independent renal function.
Hypothesis-generating for perinatal renin-angiotensin maturation; prospective studies needed before clinical relevance.
OBJECTIVE: To characterize the pattern of renin containing cells (RCC) within the human kidney between 20 weeks of gestation and 6 months of postnatal life. DESIGN: Descriptive study using paraffin-embedded blocks of kidney stored following postmortem examination. METHODS: Sections of kidney were stained immunocytochemically using an antibody to human renin; the proportion of RCC within each of three zones (superficial, middle and deep) of the cortex, and their anatomical relation to individual glomeruli were determined. The cases were divided into five groups for analysis to gestational or postnatal age. RESULTS: Fetal RCC were usually at the vascular pole of the most mature glomeruli within the deeper areas of the cortex and were occasionally located within glomeruli. This distribution persisted until birth, even when the kidney was histologically mature. By contrast there were fewer RCC in neonatal and infant kidneys and, as in adult kidneys, these were located predominantly in the superficial cortex. CONCLUSION: The change in RCC distribution around the time of normal birth may relate to the transition to independent renal function. The location and density of RCC during fetal life may influence renal perfusion and amniotic fluid production.
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Graham et al. (1992) studied this question.
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