Neurodegenerative changes in different regions of brain, spinal cord and sciatic nerve of rats treated with sodium fluoride
Journal Title: Journal of Medical and Allied Sciences - Year 2011, Vol 1, Issue 1
Abstract
Fluoride is known to cross the blood-brain barrier and alter the structure and function of neural tissue. There are few authoritative reports on neurodegenerative changes in hippocampus, neocortex, cerebellum, spinal cord and sciatic nerve in fluoride intoxication. We report the alterations in the structure of neuronal tissue after chronic administration of sodium fluoride (for 60days) to rats. Twelve male Wistar rats were divided equally into two groups: one group received 20 ppm of sodium fluoride (NaF) and the other group (which served as a control) received tap water for 60days. The body weights and organic somatic index of brain in the sodium fluoride treated animals were significantly reduced, relative to the control group. Tissue fluoride levels of hippocampus, neocortex, cerebellum, spinal cord and sciatic nerve, all increased significantly in fluoride treated rats. Electron microscopy of the hippocampus, neocortex, cerebellum, spinal cord and sciatic nerve showed neurodegenerative changes in the NaF treated group compared to controls. Axon deterioration, myelin sheath degeneration and dark cells with scanty cytoplasm were observed in spinal cord and sciatic nerve in the treated group. Other distinctive morphological alterations observed were: vacuolated swollen mitochondria in neocortex, hippocampus and cerebellum; myelinated fibers with breaks in continuity (axon partly preserved and partly vacuolated) in hippocampus; myelin splitting and vacuolated schwann cell within the cerebellum and sciatic nerve respectively. Thus, neurodegeneration was clearly evident in the hippocampus, neocortex, cerebellum, spinal cord and sciatic nerve on fluoride exposure.
Authors and Affiliations
P. Yugandhar Reddy| Department of Zoology, University College of Sciences, Osmania University, Hyderabad 500 007, Andhra Pradesh, India, K. Pratap Reddy| Department of Zoology, University College of Sciences, Osmania University, Hyderabad 500 007, Andhra Pradesh, India, K. Praveen Kumar| Department of Zoology, University College of Sciences, Osmania University, Hyderabad 500 007, Andhra Pradesh, India
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP12644
- DOI -
- Views 473
- Downloads 49
Falciparum malaria associated changes in biochemical indices in children
Metabolic disturbances associated with fluid and electrolyte imbalance, and changes in the synthetic functions of the liver are common complications of malaria and are dependent on the degree of parasitemia. Packed cel...
Perceptions of ICDS functionaries of Gwalior and Chambal divisions of Madhya Pradesh regarding the prevention and control of rabies
Rabies is a zoonotic disease and still a major public health problem despite of wide availability of Anti rabies vaccine. The study was conducted to assess the perception of ICDS functionaries about animal bite managem...
BCG: The waning of a vaccine
Helicobacter pylori: “A benign fellow traveler or an unwanted inhabitantâ€
The recent decades have witnessed an alarming increase in the Helicobacter pylori associated diseases worldwide. In spite of this, deficiencies in our knowledge still exist about its exact epidemiology, the optimum met...
Clinical utility of polymorphisms in one-carbon metabolism for breast cancer risk prediction
This study addresses the issues in translating the laboratory derived data obtained during discovery phase of research to a clinical setting using a breast cancer model. Laboratory-based risk assessment indicated that...