Morphological alterations in the seminiferous tubules of adult Wistar rats: the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure

This study presents the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on the morphology of the seminiferous tubules of the testes in the adult male rat. Timed-pregnant adult female Wistar rats (average weight 200 g) were given daily intragastric intubation of 5.8 g/kg ethanol between gestation days 9 and 12. Pair-fed and ad lib-fed animals served as controls. The pups were weighed at birth and weaned at 30 days. At 42 days of age the male offspring (n = 10) from each group were anaesthetised and the testes removed and weighed. Another set of male rats from each group (n = 6), were anaesthetised, whole body perfused and the testes removed and processed for paraffin embedding. Sections were subjected to morphological analysis and morphometric measurements based on computerised techniques following haematoxylin and eosin, PAS and reticulin staining. The results demonstrated that prenatal ethanol exposure induced persistent growth retardation and a 66% reduction in testicular weight and severely altered the morphology of the seminiferous tubules of adult male rats, causing a reduction in the cross-sectional area of the tubules by 18%, germinal epithelium thickness by 21% (p < 0.001) and an inhibition of spermatogenesis. The study showed the absence of reticulin fibres in the peritubular tissue of seminiferous tubules of prenatal ethanol-exposed adult male rats. The results imply that damage following prenatal ethanol exposure occurs irreversibly in utero and persists into adulthood in the exposed animals, which may have implications for male fertility

Quercetin And Exercise Treatment On The Morphology Of Pancreatic &#914;-Cells Of Streptozotocin-Treated Diabetic Rats

Modern chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndromes, and cancer, are the leading killers in Westernized societies and are rampantly increasing in developing nations. Considerable amount of clinical and experimental evidence now exists suggesting that many biochemical pathways, strictly associated with diabetes, increase the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, daily moderate exercise and diet supplementation can be beneficial to diabetes. This study was therefore undertaken to investigate the effects of exercise and quercetin on lipid peroxidation (MDA), scavenging enzyme activity, and morphology of pancreatic &#946;-cells as against experimentally-induced diabetes and oxidative stress by streptozotocin (STZ) treatment in Wistar rats. Diabetes was induced in the diabetic animal groups (B, C and D), by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (75 mg/kg body weight), while the ‘control' animal group (A) received equal volume of citrate buffer (pH 6.3) solution intraperitoneally. Quercetin (25 mg/kg/day, i.p.) was injected for 3 days prior to administration of STZ; these injections were continued for four weeks, but in addition, animals in group D were subjected to moderate exercise. In the diabetic state, pancreatic &#946;-cells of STZ treated rats showed a highly weak immunostaining. The morphology of the quercetin + exercise treated group showed viable cellularity with distinct &#946;-cell mass. STZ significantly decreased GSH-Px, SOD, CAT and pancreatic insulin content, increased blood glucose concentration, serum NO, and pancreatic MDA. The quercetin + exercise treated group showed a significant decrease in the elevated blood glucose, serum NO and pancreatic MDA (

Microarchitectural Changes in the Superior Colliculli of Male Wistar Rats after Cigarette and Cotton Wool Smoke Exposure

No Abstract

Protective effect of quercetin on the morphology of pancreatic &#946;-cells of streptozotocin-treated diabetic rats

No Abstract.Keywords: Quercetin; Streptozotocin; Antioxidant enzymes, Pancreatic &#946;-cell The African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines Vol. 4 (1) 2007: pp. 64-7

LDH and G-6PDH activities in the ovaries of adult female Wistar rats following the administration of aqueous extracts of neem (Azadirachta indica) leaves

The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of aqueous extracts of neem (Azadirachta Indica) leaves (which have been documented for its antifertility effect on experimental animals) onglucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6PDH) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in the ovaries of adult female wistar rats. Twenty four adult female wistar rats weighing 200 ± 10 g were divided into three groups A, B and C of eight animals each. Groups A and B were given 3 and 6 mg/kg body weight of extract respectively and the control group was given water orally for 21 days, at the end of which the animals were sacrificed and their ovaries assayed  spectrophotometrically for the activities of G-6PDH and LDH. There was significant (p = 0.046) decrease in G-6-PDH and significant (p = 0.047) increase in LDH enzyme activities in the administered groups. The results indicate that extracts of neem which is widely consumed for a variety of ailments alters carbohydrate metabolism in the ovarian tissue