The histopathological changes in the mouse ... - Semantic Scholar

Journal of Cell and Molecular Biology 1: 69-72, 2002. Golden Horn University, Printed in Turkey.

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The histopathological changes in the mouse thyroid depending on the aluminium Tülin Aktaç* and Elvan Bakar University of Trakya, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, 22080, Edirne, Turkey (* author for correspondence) Received 12 April 2002; Accepted 9 June 2002

Abstract In this study, the effects of aluminium applied through oral way on mouse thyroid follicles were investigated. Aluminium was applied as drinking water, at concentrations of 0.1 %, 1 % and 5 % AlCl3. The results indicate that aluminium caused structural tissue degeneration and cellular injury of thyroid follicles, depending on the dose.

Key words: Thyroid, AlCl3, mouse, histopathological changes

Fare tiroid bezinde alüminyuma ba¤l› histopatolojik de¤ifliklikler Özet Bu çal›flmada, oral yolla uygulanan alüminyumun fare tiroid bezi folikülleri üzerindeki etkileri araflt›r›ld›. Alüminyum % 0.1, % 1 ve % 5 lik AlCl3 fleklinde içme suyu olarak verildi. Sonuçlar alüminyumun doza ba¤l› olarak tiroid foliküllerinde yap›sal doku hasar›na ve hücre hasar›na neden oldu¤unu iflaret etmektedir.

Anahtar sözcükler: Tiroid, AlCl3, fare, histopatolojik de¤ifliklikler Introduction Although aluminium is found in very small amounts in living organisms it is an abundant element in the environment. It is always present in foods, drinking water, drugs, cigarette ashes (Miller et al., 1984; Lione, 1985; Pennington, 1987). At neutral pH, aluminium exists mainly as Al(OH)3, and therefore, the level of aluminium in surface waters is always very low. With the development of modern industry, atmospheric deposition of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide produced by burning of coal and petroleum products make the soil solution acidic. As a results, large amounts of Al3+ ions are released from the water-insoluble aluminium compounds (Gong, 1988; Kloppel et al., 1997; van Landeghem et al., 1998). The importance of the aluminium entering to organism with food and drinking water have rapidly

increased from the point of view of human health. Harmfull effects of aluminium have mainly been reported from organisms that are inconstant contact with natural waters, e.g. plants (Foy and Flemming, 1978; Fiskesjö, 1983; Liu and Jiang, 1991; Liu et al., 1993), fish (Driskol et al., 1980; Grahn, 1980; Muniz, 1983; Exley et al., 1996; Nadeenko et al., 1997) and fish-eating birds (Nyholm, 1981). Also, it was established that aliminium applied through oral way was caused degenerations in the mouse liver and kidney tissues (Bakar and Aktaç, 2001; Aktaç et al., 2001a) and adrenal glands (Aktaç, 2001; Aktaç et al., 2001b). In addition, Waring et al. (1996) reported that plasma triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) concentrations were increased in sublethally Al-stressed brown trout (Salmo trutta). In this study, we aimed to investigated the effects of aluminium on the mouse thyroid gland entered by gastrointestinal route.

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Tülin Aktaç and Elvan Bakar

Material and methods The adult mice (Balb/C, Albino), raised at Experimental Medicine Research and Application Center-University of ‹stanbul were used. Animals were divided by four groups (3 experiment and 1 control) for experiments. Each group contained three animals. Different concentrations of AlCl3 (0.1 %, 1 % and 5 %) prepared in drinking water were given to experiment groups while only drinking water was given to the control group. The amounts of water consumed by the animals during the experiment are shown in Table 1. Animals were killed by cervical dislocation at the day 10. For the ligth microscopic examinations, tiroid glands were fixed in formalin (10 % solution) for 24 hours and then embedded in paraffin wax. Sections of 5 µm thick were cut and stained with hematoxylin-eosin.

Figure 1: The thyroid tissues of control group. f: follicles, c: colloid, s: stroma (interstitiel tissue), bar representes 20 µm.

Table 1: The amounts of water consumed by the animals during the experiment. A1C13 doses

Animal no.

Water amounts (ml)

0.1 %

1 2 3

20 18 22

1 %

1 2 3

15 12 10

5 %

1 2 3

21 18 16

Control

1 2 3

22 17 20

Figure 2: 0.1% AlCl3 group. The general histological structure of the gland was disappeared, bar representes 20 µm.

Results The results of present study showed that progressive degenerative changes in thyroid gland were depended on the dose of aluminium. There was no significantly degenerative changes in the groups of 0.1% and 1% AlCl3 compared the control group. It was observed that the general histological structure of the gland was disappeared in some sections (Figure 1-3). The most abundant degenerative changes were observed in 5 % AlCl3 group. In the thyroid follicles, destruction, distortions of thyroglobulin were

Figure 3: 1% AlCl3 group. The general histological structure of the gland was disappeared, bar representes 10 µm.

Aluminium effect on thyroid

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determined (Figure 4-5). Furthermore, it was observed that some of the cells were lost of their nuclei and the cytoplasm (Figure 5). Damaged nuclei within follicle lumen and increased fibers within dispersed stroma were also observed (Figure 4-6).

Discussion fi

fi Figure 4: 5% AlCl3 group. Destruction of follicles (big arrows), damaged nuclei within follicle lumen (small arrows), bar representes 10 µm.

*

fi

The literature contains numerous references to the toxic effects of aluminium. However, studies on the histopathological effects of aluminium on the endocrine tissues are limited. Waring et al. (1996) applied lethal and sublethal aluminium doses in Salmo trutta to investigate the relationship between aluminium and plasma cortisol concentrations. Also, it was revealed that the aluminium was found a higher concentrations in adrenal and parathyroid glands (Ifl›mer et al., 1998) and that caused to defect of structure and function in adrenal glands (Aktaç, 2001; Aktaç et al., 2001b). Waring et al. (1996) obtained significant increasing plasma T3 and T4 concentrations in sublethally Al-stressed brown trout, Salmo trutta. In their study, however, they were not clarified the histopathological effects of aluminium on the thyroid gland. In the present study, it was showed that aluminium (in particularly 5 % AlCl3 concentration) caused degenerative changes in thyroid gland. These changes were irreversible. It was indicated that increased fibers within dispersed stroma caused more destructive changes in tissue. Finally, it was indicated that the exposure to aluminium for a long time caused degenerative changes in important endocrine organ such as thyroid. However, it may be profitable to attempt further studies to demonstrate the mechanism of the effects of aluminium in thyroid cells.

Figure 5: 5% AlCl3 group. Destruction of follicles (*) and follicular cells (big arrows), damaged nuclei within follicle lumen (small arrows), bar representes 10 µm.

References Aktaç T. Histological changes in adrenal cortex of male mice fed by aluminium. Univ ‹stanbul Fac Sci Journal of Biology. 64: 1-7, 2001. Aktaç T, Hüseyinov G and Kabo¤lu A. The ultrastructural changes in the mouse liver, depending on the aluminium. Univ ‹stanbul Fac Sci Journal of Biology. 64: 51-60, 2001a.

Figure 6: 5% AlCl3 group. Dispersed stroma (s), bar representes 10 µm.

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