Original article
English
Iman Idris Ali ¹ , Hala M.Abdel-Mooti ²
1- Department of Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Arab Medical Sciences University, Benghazi, Libya 2 -Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt
JMJ Vo1. 8 No.4 (Winter) 2008:258-269
Abstract
Hypothyroidism is a complex hormonal disorder that may occur either before or after birth and is treated by L-thyroxine replacement therapy. Changes in thyroid hormone levels can adversely affect many organs.The aim of the present work is to evaluate of the histological structural changes of the adrenal cortex in experimentally induced hypothyroidism by PTU and to clarify the impact of subsequent L-thyroxine administration in therapeutic and high doses. The studied groups included: Group I (control group; 10 rats), Group II ( 20 rats received intraperitoneal injection of PTU to induce hypothyroidism) and Group III which was divided into subgroup IIIa ( included 10 animals received L-thyroxine in a therapeutic dose) and subgroup IIIb (included 10 rats received L- thyroxine in high dose). In group II, the results showed loss of regular arrangement of the cells in all cortical zones with accumulation of large lipid droplets. The adrenal cortex of subgroup IIIa revealed a high degree of reversibility resembling nearly the euthyroid state.On the other hand, the adrenal cortex of subgroup III b revealed structural changes in all three cortical zones including numerous lipid droplets, dilatation of smoth endoplasimic reticulum, low nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, mitochondria with tubulovesicular cristae and dilated sinusoidal capillaries containing cytoplasmic fragments. Altered thyroid function might adversely disrupt the structural and functional integrity of the adrenocortical cells.
Keywords: L-thryroxine, Hypothyroidism, Experimental study, Adrenal cortex
Link/DOI: http://www.jmj.org.ly/PDF/winter2008/258.pdf