HISTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF THE RABBIT ADRENAL CORTEX DURING EXPERIMENTAL PEPTIC ULCER / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

Thirty eight adult male rabbits were selected for the experiment. The experimental peptic ulcer was induced by means of injection of 40% acetic acid to the submucosa of the stomach. Animals of the control group were injected with normal saline instead and another control group consisted of normal rabbits without any treatment. The animals were killed by decapitation at different time intervals (3～49 days) after the operation. The adrenal tissues were prepared for histochemical studies from both experimental and control animals. The results were observed as followsDuring the early stage of the peptic ulcer, the fascicular and reticular zones were the chief sites in the adrenal cortex where histochemical changes were involved. Three days after the peptic ulcer operation, the cells of the fascicular and reticular zones filled with sudanophilic lipid droplets and cholesterol droplets. Five days after the operation, both of lipid droplets and cholesterol droplets decreased; the content of ascorbic acid increased slightly; and the activity of succinic dehydrogenase also increased. The above changes were most conspicuous in the inner portion of the fascicular zone within ten days. After fourteen days, all the above histochemical changes began to recover and gradually returned to the normal level after eighteen to thirty five days. In the normal saline operation control group, the contents of lipid droplets and cholesterol droplets decreased in the fascicular and reticular zones after three days and returned to normal level during the period of ten to fourteen days after operation for saline injection.The above histochemical changes showed that the adrenal cortex was at an active functional state during the early period of the experimental peptic ulcer.