ABSTRACT
Introduction: the present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac sodium [DS] on the fetuses of albino mice from the morphological and skeletal points of view
Material and methods: sixty adult pregnant female mice were used in the present study. They were allocated into 6 groups [10 mice each]. The first two groups served as control and were injected intraperitoneally [i.p.] with the solvent of the drug, and the 3rd and 5th groups were treated with 1.5 and 3mg/kg body weight of diclofenac sodium for 6 days [ gestation days 1-6 ], respectively ; the 4th and 6th groups were treated with 1.5and 3mg/kg body weight of the drug for 8 days [ gestation days 7-14], respectively
Results: the morphological examination of the fetuses of treated groups showed conspicuous decrease in the average body weight and body length in all treated groups. The fetuses maternally treated with the drug showed noticeable external morphological malformations and their skeletons exhibited mild retardation in skeletal elements
In conclusion: the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac sodium had exerted marked morphological malformations and mild skeletal alterations in mice fetuses maternally treated during different periods of gestation
ABSTRACT
Few reports illustrated correlation between the histological structure of the wall of the stomach and the histochemical aspects of the gastric mucosa of some reptiles with different feeding habits. The aim of the present investigation was to clarify the effect of feeding differences on the histological structure and histochemical aspects of the gastric wall of some lacertilian lizards. A carnivorous lizard Varanus griseus [Family varanidae] and two insectivorous lizards i.e. Chamaeleon chamaeleon [Family chamnaeleontidae] and Eumeces schneiderii [Family scincidae] were chosen. These lizards were collected from Abou Rawash district, El-Fayoum and the desert areas near Alexandria. The histological results revealed that in the case of the lizard Varanus griseus; the muscularis consisted of two layers, an outer longitudinal muscle layer and an inner thick circular muscle layer. However, in the lizards Ghamaeleon chamaeleon and Eumeces schneiderii it consisted of very thick muscle layer and devoid of longitudinal muscle layer. In the lizard Varanus griseus the mucosal layer was formed of three cellular types i.e. the surface epithelial cells, mucous glands and peptic cells whereas in the insectivorous lizards [Chamaeleon chamnaeleon and Eumeces schneiderii] it consisted of surface epithelial cells and mucous glands and devoid of peptic cells. The histochemical results showed differences in reactivities and distribution of polysaccharides, mucopolysaccharides and total proteins in the three lacertilian reptiles. There were differences in the histological structure of the gastric wall and the histochemical aspects of the mucosal layer between carnivorous and insectivorous lizards which were correlated with their food types and habitats