Biometria, morfometria e estereologia de encéfalos em ratos albinos lactentes submetidos a ingestão residual da ciclofosfamida no leite.

Abstract

The study evaluated the effects of residual ingestion of cyclophosphamide in breast milk on the brain of lactating rats, from females that received the drug during lactation. 24 albino lactating rats aged 14 and 21 days old were used. The animals were divided into two groups, a control group (CG) and a treated group (GT), with 12 animals each. Each of these groups was divided into two subgroups of six animals each, according to the age at which they were euthanized, at 14 and 21 days of life. The lactating sows in the treated groups received a dosage of 140 mg/kg/day of cyclophosphamide orally every six days, during the 21 days of lactation, while those in the control groups received only saline solution. On the date of euthanasia, biometric values (body weight, brain weight and brain axes) were measured. Samples were fixed and brain sections were processed. Morphometric data (diameters and areas of the neuronal bodies, diameter and area of the nuclei of neurons and oligodendrocytes and number of neurons and oligodendrocytes per area) and stereological data (brain volume, volume density of the cerebral and cerebellar cortex, and volume density of the white matter). The results were subjected to the normality test, non-parametric data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney “U” test and parametric data were subjected to the Student “t” test, both tests considered 5% significance. Biometric analysis revealed a decrease in the body weight of treated animals at both ages and an increase in the relative weight of the brain at both ages. In the morphometric analysis, a decrease in the nucleus of oligodendrocytes in the brain was observed at 14 days, followed by an increase at 21 days. In stereology, a decrease in brain volume was observed at 14 days. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of cyclophosphamide on cells isolated from the cerebral cortex, cerebral medulla, and cerebellum.