Osmotic nephrosis Osmotic nephrosis Osmotic nephrosis refers to structural changes that occur at the cellular level in the human kidney. Cells, primarily of the straight proximal tubule, swell due to the formation of large vacuoles in the cytoplasm. These vacuoles occur in the presence of large amounts of certain solutes circulating in the tubules. However, despite the condition's name, the solutes do not cause change through osmotic forces but through pinocytosis. Once inside the cytoplasm, pinocytic vacuoles combine with each other and with lysosomes to form large vacuoles that appear transparent under microscopic examination. There may be no symptomatic presentation with this
Ballooning degeneration wispy/cobweb-like, while adipocyte-like cells have a clear cytoplasm or a vacuolated one. Ballooning degeneration is somewhat similar in appearance to feathery degeneration, which is associated with cholestasis, and also has cytoplasmic clearing and cell swelling. Ballooning degeneration In histopathology, ballooning degeneration, formally ballooning degeneration of hepatocytes, is a form of liver parenchymal cell (i.e. hepatocyte) death. The name is derived from the fact that the cells undergoing this form of cell death increase in size (balloon). It is generally considered a form of apoptosis, and is a descriptor used in the context of inflamed fatty liver (steatohepatitis) (which may be