(Murcia : F. Hernández, 1986) Zuasti, A.; Ferrer, C.; Ballesta Germán, José; Pastor García, Luis Miguel
The renal corpuscle of hibernating and nonhibernating
Testudo graeca was studied by means of light
and electron microscopy. Renal corpuscles are small and
have a glomerular architecture similar to that found in
other vertebrates with a limited glomerular filtration rate.
In hibernating animals, unlike non-hibernating, some
n~orphologicacl hanges took place. The cells of the renal
corpuscle were densely packed, podocytes and parietal cells
bhowed a marked cytoplasmic vacuolization, there was a
highly developed capillary basement membrane and the
endothelial and mesangial cells showed abundant dense
granules. These morphological features apparently correspond
to a vacuolar degeneration. They may also be the
morphological basis of the decrease in the glomerular
filtration rate observed during this period.