HISTOLOGICAL CHANGES IN RAT LIVER AFTER CHRONIC IRON-SORBITOL OVERLOAD

Abstract

––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– SUMMARY Iron is a metal that plays an important role in heme metabolism.This study revealed the histological changes in a new rat model after chronic iron-sorbitol overload. Experimental iron overload has been produced by intramuscular administration of iron-sorbitol 0.4 mg/g/day for two days per week, for eight weeks to 10 SpragueDawley rats(200-250 gr). The control group consisted of 10 Sprague-Dawley rats injected with saline. Histological sections from liver stained by hematoxylin-eosin, Perls’ Prussian blue, Masson’s trichrome stain and periodic acid Schiff (PAS) reagent. Microscopical findings revealed that sinusoidal cells and parenchymal cells were filled with iron deposits, and a slight fibrosis was observed with diffuse leucocyte infiltration. This experimental study revealed that the only commercial parenteral form of iron in our country, iron-sorbitol (Jectofer), could produce morphologic changes in a relatively short period of time and this model could be useful for further parenteral iron overload investigations in the future. On the whole, this study revealed to be aware of chronic iron toxicity in liver and further efforts should be directed toward the complication of chronic iron overload and the correlation of histological findings.