Features of angioarchitectonics and structure of the aortic wall of white rats in the early stages of experimental diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, as well as coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral artery disease (probably caused by atherosclerosis), are the leading cause of disability and mortality in people with diabetes. Objective. The purpose of our study was to determine the histostructural features and morphometric analysis of the components of the aortic wall and its hemomicrocirculatory bed after 2 and 4 weeks of streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus. Methods. The samples for the histology were the sections of the wall of the ascending part, the aortic arch, and the descending part of the aorta of 26 mature white male rats weighing 100 - 160 g. For morphometric examination, a series of images of the aortic wall was taken using a Meiji MT4300 LED microscope with an x40 objective, x10 eyepiece. Results and conclusion. The measurements were carried out using the ImageJ software. The development of micro- and macroangiopathies in experimental animals with 8-week streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus was histologically proved. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference of all morphometric parameters of both - the components of the aortic wall and the vessels of its hemomicrocirculatory bed after 4 weeks of experimental diabetes in comparison with the norm, control, and the 2-nd week of the experiment. An explicit dependency of the severity of destructive changes in the wall of the aorta and links of its hemomicrocirculatory bed of vessels on the duration of the experiment was determined.