European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 9 - Number 1
Eur J Anat, 9 (1): 29-33 (2005)

Noise-induced duodenal lesions

Da Fonseca J., Martins Dos Santos J., Castelo Branco N., Alves-Pereira M., Grande N., Oliveira P.

Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde, Almada, Portugal; Centro de Performance Humana, Alverca, Portugal; Departamento de Engenharia e Ciências do Ambiente, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal; Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Unidade Multidisciplinar de Investigação Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Passeio dos Mastros, 1990 Lisboa, Portugal

ABSTRACT Vibroacoustic disease (VAD) is a systemic disease that results from long-term exposure to low-frequency noise (LFN). VAD can cause lesions in several organs. Noise-exposed individuals frequently present digestive symptoms, but only a few studies have attempted to evaluate gastrointestinal lesions. The aim of this study was to investigate the duodenal alterations in VAD, using an animal model of the disease. Adult Wistar rats were exposed to continuous LFN. After five, nine and thirteen weeks they were sacrificed. The duodenums were studied by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and compared with those of animals kept in silence. Superficial erosions and wide-spread cell death with microvilli coalescence and fusion were observed, by light and electron microscopy. Erosion, cellular degeneration and death, and microvilli destruction, reflect noise-induced duodenal alterations in rats which may be equivalent to the ulcers and dyspeptic symptoms reported in human VAD patients.

Keywords: animal experiment, animal model, animal tissue, article, cell death, cell degeneration, controlled study, duodenum disease, duodenum erosion, duodenum ulcer, dyspepsia, erosion, evaluation, experimental model, histopathology, intestine brush border, low frequency noise, microscopy, noise injury, nonhuman, rat, rat strain, scanning electron microscopy, symptom, vibroacoustic disease, whole body vibration

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