A histopathological study on the effects of cyclophosphamide on the hepatic tissue of female golden hamsters

Abstract

The aim of this study was to study the acute toxic effect of cyclophosphamide on the histological structure of the liver tissue in Syrian golden hamsters. Twenty-seven adult female hamsters were injected intraperitoneally with 0, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight cyclophosphamide. The dosing was administrated on alternating days for one week as an acute dosing schedule and humane sacrifice was done on day 7. Hepatic tissue was collected and processed with paraffin technique for histological examination then stained with hematoxylin and eosin stains (H&E) and Periodic acid–Schiff stain (PAS). The control tissues showed normal histological structure of the liver tissue. With H&E histological changes appeared in the tissue from the hamsters dosed with 100 mg/kg body weight in the form of; slight fatty changes with vacuolated cytoplasm in some areas. The higher dose showed diffuse fatty infiltration, central vein congestion and loss of hepatocyte architecture in addition to sinusoidal congestion. With PAS stain for both low and high doses showed a decrease in glycogen amount due to presence of degenerative hepatocytes and necrosis. We recommend for the patients who undergo long term therapy with cyclophosphamide to perform clinical and biochemical tests at regular intervals to indicate early on any hepatic dysfunction.