Degenerative Changes in The Putamen of Growing Rats Induced by Maternal Excess Iron Exposure | ||
| Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, D. Histology & Histochemistry | ||
| Article 9, Volume 13, Issue 2, December 2021, Pages 119-133 PDF (2.45 M) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/eajbsd.2021.205942 | ||
| Authors | ||
| AYMAN S. AMER; Mohamed N.M. Saleh; Mohamed El-Badry Mohamed; Omnia I. Ismail | ||
| Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: Iron is an essential element for all cells and plays important role in neurodevelopment. Putamen is the site of the highest iron concentration in the brain. Whether an elevated iron intake, might contribute to structural and cellular damage in the putamen or not remains currently unclear. Aim of the Work: To detect effects of high iron intake during the gestational and lactation periods on the putamen of offspring rats. Material and Methods: 16 pregnant rats were randomly equally divided into two groups; the control group received distilled water orally daily from the eighth day of pregnancy till the 20th day postnatally, and the treated group received ferrous gluconate dissolved in distilled water at a dose of 15 mg/kg body weight orally daily for the same period. Offspring rats included in this study were at the ages of newborn, 10 days, and 20 days. The brains from 6 male offspring from each age group were dissected, fixed, and processed for light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry, and morphometry. Results: The putamen in the three ages of the iron-treated group had vacuolations in the neuropil, and the neurons showed shrunken nuclei, vacuolations, damaged mitochondria with marked loss of cell organelles as compared to the control. Neurodegenerative changes were increased with increasing the age of rats. In addition, there was a reduction of positive TH immunoreactivity and a decrease in the cell count in the iron-treated group as compared to the control. Conclusion: Iron excess during pregnancy and lactation produced neuronal degeneration in the putamen of the growing rats. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Putamen; Iron accumulation; Neuronal ultrastructure; Tyrosine hydroxylase immuno-histochemistry | ||
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