REACTION OF CD68-POSITIVE RAT LIVER AND SPLEEN CELLS ON SILICON INTAKE WITH DRINKING WATER

Abstract

The article presents data on the long-term effect (nine months) of a silicon compound supplied with drinking water – nonahydrate sodium metasilicate (10 mg/l in terms of silicon), on CD68-positive macrophages in the liver and spleen of laboratory rats. Changes in the morphological characteristics of this cell population were found. There was a decrease in the average cell area (in the liver of the control group of rats, the average macrophage area was 179.23±5.94 microns2, and in the group receiving silicon with drinking water – 117.04±3.35 microns2; in the spleen-136.02±3.93 microns2 and 103.44±2.8 microns2, respectively). Macrophages in the liver preparations of the experimental group of rats had a fewer processes and a darker cytoplasmic membrane. The number of macrophages in the liver per unit area was comparable, for the control group of rats it was 18.78±1.24, and for the rats that received with water with the addition of silicon – 19.41±0.75 cells. CD68+ macrophages of the red splenic pulp in laboratory rats that received silicon also underwent the following morphological changes: they were located in a denser way and had fewer processes, while the number of macrophages per unit area was 73.7±2.3 for the control group, 91.6±5.0-for the experimental group, respectively. The distance between them did not change. There was a change in the intensity of CD68 expression on the surface of the cytoplasmic membrane and in the cytoplasm of liver and spleen macrophages. These changes can be interpreted as the adaptive ability of liver and spleen macrophages to silicon introduced with drinking water. Given the heterogeneity of the macrophage population in the liver and spleen, further studies using markers for different subpopulations of macrophages are needed to clarify their role in the response of tissues to silicon supplied with drinking water.