The Protective Effect of Nicardipine on Iron-Induced Purkinje Cell Loss in Rat Cerebellum: A Stereological Study

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of nicardipine, a calcium channel blocker, on the neurotoxicity induced by intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) iron injection in rats. Materials and Methods: Animals were divided into three groups; control, iron and iron+nicardipine groups. Rats in iron and iron+nicardipine groups received i.c.v. FeCl3, while rats in control group received the same volume of saline. All animals were kept alive for ten days following the operation and animals in iron+nicardipine group were injected intraperitoneally nicardipine (10 mg/kg/day) once a day during this period. After ten days, all rats were perfused intracardially and cerebellar tissues were stained with Cresyl violet. Means of total Purkinje cells numbers in the cerebellum were estimated using the optical fractionator counting method. Results: Means of total Purkinje cells numbers in the cerebellum as follows: 317182±9667, 209002±7836 and 265659±8291 in the control, iron and iron+nicardipine groups, respectively. Total number of Purkinje cells in iron and iron+nicardipine groups were significantly lower than control animals (p< 0.05). However, comparison between iron and iron+nicardipine groups revealed that nicardipine significantly attenuates the iron-induced Purkinje cell loss (p

Keywords

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Sıçan Serebellumunda Demirin İndüklediği Purkinje Hücre Kaybına Nikardipinin Koruyucu Etkisi: Stereolojik Bir Çalışma

Öz

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, sıçanlarda, intraserebroventriküler (i.c.v.) olarak injekte edilen demirin indüklediği nörotoksisite üzerine bir kalsiyum kanal blokörü olan nikardipinin etkisini incelemektir. Gereç ve Yöntem: Hayvanlar kontrol, demir ve demir+nikardipin olmak üzere üç gruba ayrıldı. Demir ve demir+nikardipin grubuna i.c.v. olarak FeCl3, kontrol grubuna ise aynı hacimde salin verildi. Bütün hayvanlar operasyonu takiben on gün yaşatılırken bu esnada demir+nikardipin grubuna 10 mg/kg/gün dozunda nikardipin intraperitoneal olarak verildi. Onuncu günde, sıçanların tamamı intrakardiyak olarak perfüze edildi ve serebellum dokuları kresil violet ile boyandı. Serebellumda ortalama toplam Purkinje hücre sayıları optik parçalama sayım metodu kullanılarak hesaplandı. Bulgular: Hücre sayıları kontrol, demir ve demir+nikardipin gruplarında sırasıyla 317182±9667, 209002±7836 ve 265659±8291 olarak bulundu. Total Purkinje hücresi sayısı, demir ve demir+nikardipin gruplarında kontrol grubuna göre anlamlı olarak daha azdı (p

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Demir, hücre ölümü, Purkinje hücresi, nikardipin, stereoloji

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23. Kabul Tarihi:25.05.2008