A Review of Unique Male Rat Hydrocarbon Nephropathy

There is a diverse group of hydrocarbons that induce a specific spectrum of nephropathic alterations. Examples include decalin, an alicyclic hydrocarbon; JP5 jet fuel, a mixture of C12-15 straight and branched chain hydrocarbons; C10-11 isoparaffinic hydrocarbons; Stoddard solvent, a mixture of straight and branched-chain paraffins, naphthenes, and alkyl aromatic hydrocarbons; 2,2,4-trimethylpentane, a branched chain hydrocarbon and d-limonene, an aromatic hydrocarbon. Only male rats develop kidney alterations upon exposure to these chemicals. Other mammals such as female rats, mice, guinea pigs, dogs and monkeys evidently are refractory to kidney injury upon exposure. The primary effect of decalin is to specifically exacerbate the accumulation of alpha 2 mu-globulin, a unique protein occurring spontaneously in proximal convoluted tubular epithelial cells only in the mature male rat. Thus, the male rat hydrocarbon nephropathy should not be predictive of a normal human renal response.