Morphological changes of the structure of rat glandule thymus under the influence of sodium valproate

Abstract

The aim of the study: To evaluate the morphological changes of the structure of rat thymus under the influence of Sodium valproate (VPA). Material and methods: The thymus of Wistar rats of both genders aged 8 weeks was investigated in the following groups (n=6 each): controls, treated with VPA, castrated male and female treated with VPA, and the castrated control of both genders. The structural changes and area of cortex and medulla of the gland in slides stained with hematoxylin and eosin and immmunohistochemically were assessed. Results: The treatment with VPA caused an about 6-fold (0.39±0.12 vs. 0.07±0.03) increase of Hassall's corpuscles (HCs) numbers per 1 mm2 in male and more than 4-fold increase (0.46±0.07 vs 0.10±0.04) in female rats. In castrated males and females, the HCs number was also increased, but this increase was statistically significant only in male animals vs. controls (0.46±0.10 vs 0.07±0.03, p<0.001 in males; 0.29±0.13 vs. 0,10±0.04, p>0.05 in females). When castrated male and female rats were treated with VPA, further increase of HCs numbers was found. We found a significant increase in the cortex area in the castrated male group as compared with the male control (18.29±1.18 vs. 15.9±0.65, p<0.001). We noted a significant decrease of the medullar area only in castrated males treated with VPA vs. castrated male rats (5.01±0.46 vs. 6.14±0.21, p0.01). Upon treating with VPA, in the cortex of the thymus of castrated and non-castrated rats we observed structures that resemble lymphatic follicles, increased epithelial elements together with a de creased thymocyte density. [...].