Effect of adriamycin [doxorubicin] on the developing post natal rat lung

It was claimed that adriamycin administration in combination with other cytotoxic drugs provided a controlled preoperative surgical management of different types of tumours, besides the treatment of wide variety of sarcomas and carcinomas. So, this work aimed to study adriamycin effects on the early postnatal developing lung in rats to approach a near idea about the changes affecting the early postnatal developing human lung after treatment with adriamycin. In this study, 50 new born white rats were used. The animals were divided into 2 groups. The first group included 10 animals injected intraperitoneally with saline and were regarded as controls. The second experimental group included 40 newborn white rats injected within two hours after birth with adriamycin with a dose equivalent to human therapeutic dose [0.01 mg/rat]. Paraffin sections were prepared in usual manner and stained for histological study. Morphometric and statistical study was done. The mean thickness of the inter alveolar septa was measured. The measurements were done by using the image analysis. Student's t test was used to compare the mean thickness of the inter alveolar septa in control and treated groups. It was found that adriamycin caused morphologic changes in the studied ages. In 3 and 5 days treated rats, dilated air passages with interrupted walls were seen. Shed cells and red blood cells were seen in dilated alveolar lumena. More dense [hypercellularity] interstitial cells occurred, damaged pneumocytes with vacuolated cytoplasm and deeply stained nuclei were noted. The blood air barrier structural pattern was lost and interrupted. At 5 days treated animals, intrapulmonary more folded mucosa was noted. The mean thickness of the inter alveolar septa showed a significant increase at 3 days treated rats; while there was insignificant increase in the inter alveolar septa at 5 days treated animals. It was concluded that adriamycin affected the early postnatal developing rat lung; so it should be avoided in human

Effect of hydrocortisone on the developing post natal rat thoracic spinal ganglia

The aim of the study was to find out the effect of hydrocortisone on the developing postnatal spinal ganglia of the white rats to predict a possible effect on the human infants. The newborn rats were divided into two groups: The first group included 15 newborn rats as controls and the second group included 30 newborn rats for experimental study of the effect of hydrocortisone on the morphology of the developing early postnatal thoracic spinal ganglia. In both groups, the ganglia were prepared for the study at the ages three, five and seven days. Hydrocortisone administration in three-day old treated rats caused thin irregular capsule and there was a significant increase in ganglionic cell mean surface area, while in five days old treated rats, the ganglionic cells had a nonsignificant decrease in mean surface area in comparison to the corresponding control. Satellite cells were irregular in both three- and five-day old treated rats ganglia. Moreover, increased vascularity was seen. At seven-day old treated rats, hydrocortisone administration caused a significant decrease in ganglionic cell mean surface area besides destruction. Wide spaces in ganglionic tissue were seen. Satellite cells lost arrangement and red blood cells in the ganglia were noted. Hydrocortisone administration to newborn rats caused morphological changes in the postnatal developing thoracic spinal ganglia in white rats. The study indicated that the drug should be avoided in treating human infants

Morphologic effects of actinomycin D on the developing primary lymphoid tissues [Thymus gland and bursa of fabricius [BF]] of the chick embryos

Morphological and histological studies were made on the thymus gland and the thymus equivalent [BF] of the chick embryos injected in ova with actinomycin D [0.5 microgram/embryo] on the 10th day of incubation. It was found that actinomycin D caused morphological and histological changes in the thymus gland of 15-day old chick embryo in the form of less invaginated capsule with torn swollen dilated septa. Density of cells seemed to be more with increased vascularity. The changes in thymus equivalent, bursa of fabricius [BF] was in the form of more dilated cavity of the bursa, more lymphoid cells, as well as tears in the epithelial plates