The study investigates morphological and morphometric changes in the kidneys of rats under conditions of dietary magnesium deficiency. The experiment was performed on male outbred white rats aged 3–6 months using standard and magnesium-deficient diets. Histological and morphometric methods with subsequent statistical analysis were applied. It was established that magnesium deficiency does not cause gross distortion of renal architecture but induces a complex of moderately expressed structural alterations, including vasoconstriction of afferent and efferent arterioles, reduced glomerular density, glomerular hypertrophy, and pronounced dystrophic changes of the tubular apparatus, predominantly in proximal tubules. A shift in the corticomedullary ratio toward the medulla was observed, reflecting chronic functional overload of nephrons and adaptive structural remodeling of renal tissue. The obtained results expand current understanding of the pathogenesis of magnesium-deficiency-associated nephropathies.

magnesium deficiency, kidneys, morphology, morphometry, rats, nephron, tubular dystrophy, glomerular hypertrophy.

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