Abstract
BackgroundMaternal cigarette smoking is associated with various adverse effects. This might be associated with impaired pancreatic functions, including the development of pancreatitis, as well as type II diabetes in the offspring of smoking mothers. Nicotine (NC) from cigarette smoke has been linked to several deleterious side effects. Thiocyanate (TCN) present in some body fluids, is consistently related to cigarette smoking, so TCN is being used as a biomarker to check for adult smoking cessation. This study aimed to evaluate the toxic effects of nicotine versus thiocyanate on the pancreas of developing rats.Materials and methodsFifteen pregnant female Sprague Dawley rats were divided into three groups (five rats each): group I, group II, and group III. Group I was considered as the control group; group II was treated with nicotine (6 mg/kg/day subcutaneously from gestation day 4–20); and group III was treated with potassium thiocyanate orally (25 mg/ kg/day from gestation day 4–20). Male offspring of each group were sacrificed after 1 month. Specimens from the pancreatic tail were processed for light microscopic examination.ResultsIn both NC and TCN treated groups, there were congested dilated blood vessels, increase in interlobular connective tissue and infiltration of mononuclear cells. The acini were separated by wide spaces, which may be due to cellular edema. Focal areas of acinar degeneration were found to be completely destroyed leaving empty spaces. Vacuolization of some cells of the acini was found in addition to deficient zymogen granules. Regarding the islets of Langerhans, there was vacuolization of some cells with deeply stained nuclei. These changes were more profound in the nicotine‐treated group than the TCN group.ConclusionThe present study demonstrated that prenatal nicotine administration among substances found in cigarettes, could be responsible for its degenerative changes in the pancreas more than thiocyanate.Support or Funding InformationNo funding was provided for this research.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.
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