Nicotine is the main toxic constituent in cigarettes and vitamin C is an important antioxidant agent. This study investigated the possible ameliorative effect of vitamin C on nicotine-induced histological and ultrastructure changes in zona fasciculata in rats. Sixty adult male albino rats were distributed into 3 groups (20 rats each): Group I, control group received subcutaneous injection of saline daily for 8 weeks. Group II nicotine-treated group, rats received subcutaneous injection of nicotine (0.7 mg/kg body weight) daily for 8 weeks. Group III (nicotine+vitamin C group), rats received vitamin C (100 mg/kg body weight daily) through intragastric tube. Samples from adrenal cortex were prepared for light (hematoxylin & eosin and toluidine blue staining) and electron microscopic examination. Nicotine resulted in histopathological changes in zona fasciculata as cells had cytoplasmic degeneration with increased lipid contents, significant increase in total adrenal cortical thickness and zona fasciculate thickness. Nicotine induced ultrastructure changes in zona fasciculata cells and a significant increase in number and volume of lipid droplets, degenerated mitochondria, decreased the surface area of mitochondrial cristae, the volume of mitochondrial compartment and increased significantly the volume of lipid droplet compartment. These histopathological and ultrastructure changes in zona fasciculata cells due to nicotine exposure, were reduced by vitamin C supplementation. In conclusion, this study provided evidence that the harmful histological and ultrastructure changes of nicotine on zona fasciculata in rats were ameliorated by vitamin C intake.
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Material and methods
AnimalsSixty adult male albino rats (Wistar) weighing 250-275 grams were accommodated in the animal facility at King Fahd Medical Research Center (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). The study was conducted under the ethical rules and guidelines of the Canadian Council on Animal Care. The rats were kept at 22-24°C temperature, with 55% relative humidity with 12-h light/12-h dark intervals, beginning at 6 a.m. Animals had food and water ad libitum and were acclimatized for two weeks before the start of the experiment.
ChemicalsNicotine 100% concentration, glass bottle (25 ml) was obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, USA) and Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). The solutions were prepared with double distilled water.
Experimental designSixty male adult albino rats were divided into three groups (20 rats each). Group I served as control group (C) that received subcutaneous injection of saline daily for 8 weeks. Group II, nicotine group rats received nicotine (0.7 mg/kg body weight), daily with subcutaneous injection for 8 weeks.16 Group III (Nicotine+vitamin C group), rats received vitamin C (100 mg/kg body weight daily) through intragastric tube, before subcutaneous injection of nicotine (0.7 mg/kg body weight). 17 The dose of nicotine that was used in this study (0.7 mg/kg/day) resulted in plasma levels of 120 ng/ml for cotinine and 30 ng/m...