Cyclosporine-induced kidney alterations are limited by melatonin in rats: an electron microscope study

The effect of melatonin on experimental prolonged cyclosporine A (CsA) nephrotoxicity was analyzed by electron microscopy and morphometry. Twenty female Wistar rats were divided into groups that received (1) CsA at a therapeutic dose (15 mg/kg/day) sc for 40 days; (2) olive oil, CsA vehicle, as controls; (3) CsA plus melaton (1 mg/kg) ip for the same time; (4) melatonin alone, as additional controls. All controls had normal renal ultrastructure. However, in CsA group, both tubular and glomerular alterations were observed. The authors found apoptotic and necrotic proximal tubules with disrupted brush border, swollen mitochondria, abundant lysosomes; in the glomerulus, amorphous basement membrane, and abnormal mesangial matrix. CsA plus melatonin administration partly prevented these changes. Nevertheless, fibrillar deposits in podocytes and basolateral membrane dilatations in proximal tubules were observed. Histopathological analysis on semithin sections and ultrastructural morphometry were also performed. CsA induced interstitial fibrosis, atrophy, and PAS positive inclusions in the proximal tubules. Moreover, CsA reduced glomerular and mesangial volume but enhanced mesangial matrix volume and basement membrane thickness. After CsA plus melatonin, these parameters were reduced in the proximal tubules and restored in the glomerulus. In conclusion, melatonin attenuated morpho-quantitative alterations induced by CsA in the rat kidney.