open access

Vol 68, No 4 (2009)
Original article
Submitted: 2012-02-06
Published online: 2009-11-26
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Morphological and morphometric studies of the aorta, pulmonary trunk, and heart of streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rats

O.A. Komolafe, D.O. Adeyemi, O.S. Adewole, E.M. Obuotor, A.A. Abiodun
Folia Morphol 2009;68(4):207-214.

open access

Vol 68, No 4 (2009)
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Submitted: 2012-02-06
Published online: 2009-11-26

Abstract

Micro-anatomical changes in the aorta, pulmonary trunk, and left ventricle of Wistar rats were studied after the administration of streptozotocin. Twenty adult Rattus norvegicus were randomly assigned into two groups (control and diabetic) of ten rats each. Diabetes mellitus was experimentally induced in the diabetic group of rats by daily intra-peritoneal administration of multiple doses of 40 mg/kg streptozotocin dissolved in 0.1 M sodium citrate buffer for five consecutive days. The control group was given the equivalent volume of citrate buffer. The animals were monitored for four weeks after streptozotocin administration. Post sacrifice, the left ventricle, aorta, and pulmonary trunk were excised, weighed, and fixed by immersion in 10% formol saline. The tissues were processed for paraffin embedding, and sections of 6 μm thickness were produced and stained with H & E for general histological observations, and Verhoeff-van Gieson elastic fibre stain to demonstrate elastic fibres in these cardiovascular structures. The data obtained were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Histopathological and morphometric examinations of the stained sections showed a significant increase in the thickness of the tunica intima of aorta (t = –7.49; df = 9; p < 0.05) and pulmonary trunk (t = –10.81; df = 9; p < 0.05) in diabetic rats (14.59 ± 1.189 mm and 11.307 ± 0.863 mm, respectively) when compared to that of the control group (3.62 ± 0.353 mm and 3.22 ± 0.244 mm, respectively). In addition, the distribution of elastic and collagen fibres was sparse in the hearts of the diabetic group when compared to that of the control group. The findings of this study demonstrated that diabetes mellitus might cause some alterations in the microanatomy of cardiovascular structures.

Abstract

Micro-anatomical changes in the aorta, pulmonary trunk, and left ventricle of Wistar rats were studied after the administration of streptozotocin. Twenty adult Rattus norvegicus were randomly assigned into two groups (control and diabetic) of ten rats each. Diabetes mellitus was experimentally induced in the diabetic group of rats by daily intra-peritoneal administration of multiple doses of 40 mg/kg streptozotocin dissolved in 0.1 M sodium citrate buffer for five consecutive days. The control group was given the equivalent volume of citrate buffer. The animals were monitored for four weeks after streptozotocin administration. Post sacrifice, the left ventricle, aorta, and pulmonary trunk were excised, weighed, and fixed by immersion in 10% formol saline. The tissues were processed for paraffin embedding, and sections of 6 μm thickness were produced and stained with H & E for general histological observations, and Verhoeff-van Gieson elastic fibre stain to demonstrate elastic fibres in these cardiovascular structures. The data obtained were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Histopathological and morphometric examinations of the stained sections showed a significant increase in the thickness of the tunica intima of aorta (t = –7.49; df = 9; p < 0.05) and pulmonary trunk (t = –10.81; df = 9; p < 0.05) in diabetic rats (14.59 ± 1.189 mm and 11.307 ± 0.863 mm, respectively) when compared to that of the control group (3.62 ± 0.353 mm and 3.22 ± 0.244 mm, respectively). In addition, the distribution of elastic and collagen fibres was sparse in the hearts of the diabetic group when compared to that of the control group. The findings of this study demonstrated that diabetes mellitus might cause some alterations in the microanatomy of cardiovascular structures.
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Keywords

diabetes mellitus; aorta; pulmonary trunk; left ventricle

About this article
Title

Morphological and morphometric studies of the aorta, pulmonary trunk, and heart of streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rats

Journal

Folia Morphologica

Issue

Vol 68, No 4 (2009)

Article type

Original article

Pages

207-214

Published online

2009-11-26

Page views

487

Article views/downloads

1079

Bibliographic record

Folia Morphol 2009;68(4):207-214.

Keywords

diabetes mellitus
aorta
pulmonary trunk
left ventricle

Authors

O.A. Komolafe
D.O. Adeyemi
O.S. Adewole
E.M. Obuotor
A.A. Abiodun

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