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Effects of Nicotine Administration during Pregnancy on the Exocrine Pancreas of 1‐Month‐Old Rat Offspring: An Ultrastructural and Immunohistochemical Study
Author(s) -
Othman Manal Ahmed
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.610.1
Subject(s) - nicotine , offspring , pancreas , medicine , endocrinology , immunohistochemistry , vacuolization , connective tissue , pathology , pregnancy , biology , genetics
Background Exposure to cigarette smoking by mothers during pregnancy is associated with various hazardous effects. This might result in impaired pancreatic functions in the offspring of smoking mothers. The most active ingredient in cigarette smoke, nicotine (NC) was shown to have variable side effects. The exocrine pancreas has been found recently to be markedly affected by nicotine. This effect might be related to the activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSC) and subsequently inflammation, cytokine release and finally cell death. This study aimed to evaluate the toxic effects of nicotine on the exocrine pancreas of developing rats. Materials and methods Ten pregnant female Sprague Dawley rats were divided into two groups (five rats each): group I, group II. Group I was considered as the control group; group II was treated with nicotine (6 mg/kg/day) subcutaneously from gestation day 4– 20. Male offspring of each group were sacrificed after 1 month postnatal. Specimens from the pancreas were processed for light and electron microscopic evaluation. Immunohistochemical evaluation of cleaved caspase 3 and smooth muscle actin was performed as well. Results In NC treated groups, there were dilated blood capillaries, increase in interlobular connective tissue and infiltration of mononuclear cells. The serous acini (exocrine pancreas) were separated by wide spaces. Ultrastructurally, there were degeneration and decrease in the zymogen granules, disruption of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, and vacuolization in some cells of the acini. The immunohistochemical evaluation revealed an increase in staining of smooth muscle actin (a marker of PSC) as well as an increase in apoptosis of some acinar cells (cleaved caspase 3). Conclusion The present study demonstrated that prenatal nicotine administration resulted in marked structural changes and degeneration, activation of PSC as well as apoptosis. This could be responsible for the degenerative changes of the pancreas resulting from cigarette smoking in pregnant mothers. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .