EN
In the present study the quantitative and qualitative immunohistochemical examinations of rats' renal tubular epithelial cells were conducted to determine the presence of proteins involved in adriamycin-induced apoptosis, in which death signalling was produced through the mitochondrial pathway involving proteins: Bcl-2, BAX, Apaf-1, and caspases 9 and 3; the extrinsic pathway - proteins of caspase 8 and 3; and the endoplasmic reticulum pathway - caspases 12 and 3. Moreover, caspase 1 - one of the post- necrosis inflammation markers, was evaluated immunohistochemically. Adriamycin-induced apoptosis in the renal tubular cells occurred after 4 weeks and intensified after 7 weeks (an increase in reaction to the executing caspase 3). Irrespective of the time factor, it developed through the mitochondrial pathway (statistically-significant increase in reaction for, BAX, Apaf-1, caspase 9) and reticular pathway (statistically-significant increase in reaction for caspase 12). No increased reaction was observed for caspase 1.