Histochemical and morphometric analysis of the rat cardiac tissue exposed to ethanol and chronic malnutrition

Abstract

Alcoholic mothers, in human and laboratory animals, have been responsable for systemic disturbances in their offspring. The present study evaluated, using the histochemistry and digital analysis of image, the histologic profile of the heart of male newborn rats (Wistar rats) from mothers submitted to two nutritional treatments: 1) commercial laboratory diet (Labina®, with 23% of protein) and 2) low-protein diet (Basic Regional Diet-BRD, with 8% of protein) and chronic ingestion of ethanol (3g/kg/day) or filtered water. It was used four experimental groups Control Group (CG), Ethanol Group(EG), Malnourished Group (MG) and Ethanol-Malnourished Group (EMG). The body weights was evaluated at 3 (P3), 25 (P25) and 40 (P40) days. Morphometric analysis of the perivascular and interstitial collagen, number and average diameter of the cardiac vessels and PAS-positive inclusions in the cardiomyocites were also studied. The results showed that in P3 only the EG animals had significant lower weight when compared to other groups while. In P25 and P40 the EMG presented significant wheight reduction when compared with CG and MG. Significant difference of weight was observed among the different groups with same treatment and diets (EG x EMG) in P25 and P40, having the EMG the lower weight. The image analysis of the perivascular and interstitial collagen demonstrated a significant increase in EG. The MG showed a reduction in the average number of endo-myocardium vessels when compared with other groups. The relationship between ethanol ingestion and malnutrition (EMG) favored a significant increase in the average vessels diameter of the endo-myocardium, as well as PAS-positive inclusions with diffuse distribution in the cardiomyocites and vascular endotelium. It could be concluded that pre and postnatal exposure to etanol inducs important morphologic changes in the cardiac tissue of the offspring, and many of these changes are intensified by the proteic malnutrition.