Silver Deposition in Rat Glomerular Basement Membrane

Summary Silver given in the drinking water of hooded and albino rats is deposited in various tissues and particularly in glomerular basement membrane; individual and strain variations appear to occur. The deposits become aggregated along the endothelial side of the basement membrane. After silver administration has stopped, some silver deposits increase in size; heavy deposits persist in axial basement membrane, and there is a progressive accumulation of silver in axial cells in the peripheral basement membrane the silver deposits decrease in number and eventually disappear. This pattern is consistent with the hypothesis of new formation of glomerular basement membrane by epithelial fells and absorption by axial and endothelial cells.