European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 22 - Number 1
Eur J Anat, 22 (1): 75-84 (2018)

The effect of formaldehyde on the renal cortex of adult male albino rats and possible protective role of vitamin C

Manal Mohammad Morsy

Department of Anatomy & Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Ash Sharqiyah, Zagazig, Egypt

ABSTRACT Most of the people are exposed to formaldehyde. Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant that reduces reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. This study aimed to investigate the changes that occur in the renal cortex of adult male albino rats after formaldehyde administration and the possible protective effects of vitamin C. Forty-five adult male albino rats were divided randomly into three main groups. Group I (control groups) included 3 subgroups: (Ia), (Ib) and (Ic) which received no treatment, distilled water intraperitoneally and vitamin C (100 mg/kg /bwt) for 2 weeks respectively. Group ΙΙ (formaldehyde group) contained 9 rats, which were injected intraperitoneally with formaldehyde (10 mg/kg /bwt) for 2 weeks. Group IΙΙ (formaldehyde and vitamin C group) contained 9 rats that were received formaldehyde concomitantly vitamin C by same method mentioned before. At the end of the experiment, all animals were sacrificed. Kidney specimens were dissected out and processed for histopathological and immunohistochemistry examination. The results showed that formaldehyde exposure induced many histological changes in the renal cortex as hypertrophied, segmentation of glomeruli, degenerative changes of the convoluted tubules and dilatation of their lumens. On the other hand, vitamin C improved the state of oxidative stress as evidenced by inducible nitric oxide synthase immunohistochemistry and by Mallory trichrome staining. Statistical morphometric analysis showed that there was a significant difference in the area of tubules and in the height of epithelium of the tubules between control, formaldehyde treated group and formaldehyde and vitamin C treated group.

Keywords: Formaldehyde â?? Kidney â?? Vitamin C â?? iNOS â?? Immunohistochemistry â?? Morphometry

European Journal of anatomy
ISSN 2340-311X (Online)