Correlation between vitamin D deficiency and breast tissue changes during child bearing age

Background: The role of vitamin D, a steroid hormone that exerts most of its biological activities by binding to the vitamin D receptor, in health and disease is far from understood and the literature is full of contradictory findings. Still, evidence that vitamin D is capable of modulating several features of cancer exist

Objective: To correlate changes in breast tissue with low serum levels of Vitamin D[Vit D] in females during their reproductive years

Methods: This study was conducted in the department of Anatomy, Ziauddin Medical College, Karachi and data collected from the department of surgery, Patel Hospital, Karachi in patients undergoing biopsy of the breast lump, between February 2012 and February 2013. 90 patients with diagnosis of breast lump, between 25-40 years of age, with parity varying from 1-5 were divided into 2 groups, those with serum Vit D levels in the normal Range[group A] and those having marked deficiency of serum Vit D levels[group B]. Detailed histological study of the biopsy specimen was conducted in all the patients

Results: Patients who had a marked deficiency of serum vitamin D levels, had more proliferation of stromal connective tissue in group B whereas in group A patients, minimal proliferation of connective tissue was observed in H and E stained slides under the light microscope

Conclusion: It seems clear that Breast Cancer prevention includes maintaining adequate Vitamin D levels by using oral vitamin D supplementation and with prudent exposure to sunlight

Melatonin preserves the morphology of parotid gland damaged by streptozotocin induced diabetes

This study investigated the injurious effects of Streptozotocin [STZ] induced diabetes on histology of rat salivary gland along with amelioration of these effects by the antioxidant melatonin. This prospective experimental study was conducted in the department of Anatomy, Basic Medical Sciences Institute, JPMC, Karachi for a period of 6 weeks from November to December, 2012. 45 male albino rats were divided into 3 groups, containing 15 animals each. Group A was treated as control, group B and C received 37 mg/kg STZ Intraperitoneally [i/p] once at the start of experiment, whereas group C additionally received 10mg/100ml of melatonin [MEL] 3-days prior to STZ administration. After sacrificing the animals, the parotid glands were processed for histological examination and viewed under the light microscope. The histological findings demonstrated changes in the parotid gland morphology of group B animals, such as the presence of lipid vacuoles in the serous acini and degeneration of the acinar cells. There was a significant reduction in the severity of these changes in melatonin treated group C. Serum glucose was significantly increased in both group B and C as compared to control. Total serum cholesterol was significantly increased in group B as compared to group A and C. STZ altered the histology of parotid gland by lipid infiltration and degeneration of acini. Melatonin suppressed the progression of damage induced by STZ due to its antioxidant properties and also reduced total serum cholesterol levels, but it could not decrease STZ induced hyperglycemia

Protective role of melatonin on streptozotocin induced renal damage in albino rats

This study was designed to evaluate the protective role of melatonin on the morphology of proximal convoluted tubules [PCT] of albino rats made nephrotoxic by a chemotherapeutic drug like Streptozotocin [STZ]. Prospective experimental study. This study was conducted in the Department of Anatomy, Basic Medical Sciences Institute [BMSI], Jinnah Post graduate Medical Centre [JMPC], Karachi, for 6 weeks from March to April, 2012. 60 male albino rats were divided into 4 groups, containing 15 animals each. Group A was treated as control, groups B and C received 37 mg/kg STZ Intraperitoneally [I/P] once at the start of experiment, whereas group C additionally received 10mg/100 ml of melatonin [MEL] 3-days prior to STZ administration, and group D received only MEL at the same dose. Serum glucose was measured weekly. The kidneys were processed for histological examination and periodic Acid Schiff Haematoxylin [PAS-H] stained sections were viewed under the light microscope for detailed morphological examination of the proximal convoluted tubules. The microscopic examination revealed marked epithelial, cytoplasmic and nuclear changes in the P.C.T. of STZ treated group B and a significant reduction in the severity of these changes in MEL treated group C. Serum glucose was significantly increased in both group B and C. The results of the investigation indicated that MEL administration suppressed the progression of renal injury induced by nephrotoxic drugs like STZ. It could not decrease STZ induced hyperglycaemia, but it did prevent the histopathological damage of the P.C.T. So dietary supplementation of MEL could be an easy and inexpensive method of protecting cancer patients from renal damage caused by chemotherapy induced oxidative stress

Vitamin E ameliorates renal damage in streptozotocin induced diabetes in albino rats

This study was designed to find out the role of Vitamin E on serum glucose and Creatinine concentrations of male albino rats made diabetic by streptozotocin. Prospective study. This study was conducted at the Department of Physiology; Basic Medical Sciences Institutes [BMSI], Jinnah post Graduate Medical Center [JPMC], Karachi from Feb. 2010 to March 2010. In a 4 weeks study, 45 male albino rats were divided into 3 groups containing 15 animals each. Group A was treated as control, Group B and Group C received 45 mg/kg STZ once at the start of the experiment whereas Group C additionally received 600 mg/kg Vitamin E Intramuscularly 3 times weekly. Serum glucose and Creatinine concentrations were measured at the beginning of the experiment and once weekly. Serum glucose and Creatinine levels were significantly elevated in Group B as compared to control. In Group C, blood glucose was elevated but the levels of serum Creatinine were significantly reduced, when compared to group B. our findings conclude that Vitamin E supplementation may have protective effects against deterioration of renal function brought about by free radical toxicity in diabetes mellitus