Effects of Nifedipine on Histology and AgNOR Parameters of Liver

Abstract

In the present study, effects on histology of liver of high dose nifedipine, calcium channel blocker, which was administered to the rats for 30 days were evaluated and also effects of the cessation of the administration after 40 days. At the beginning of the study, the rats were divided into control and nifedipine groups. Everyday, standard rat feed containing 125 mg\kg powdered nifedipine was given to the nifedipine group for one week. During the following three weeks, 250 mg\kg nifedipine was given to the rats with the same method. Histologic sections were obtained from the tissue samples of liver on the 30^th and 70^th days of the study. The histological changes occurring in the liver were evaluated under the light microscope. Glycogen content in hepatocytes was also evaluated in the sections stained with periodic-acid Schiff (PAS) method. Besides, Nukleolus Organizer Regions (NOR) in nucleus of hepatocytes were stained with silver and some of the AgNOR parameters (AgNOR number, AgNOR area, AgNOR area\nucleus area ratio) were determined. A statistically significant (p<0.05) increase was observed in the frequency of dikaryotic hepatocytes of the nifedipine-administered group. On the other hand, a significant (p<0.05) decrease was observed in the frequency of dikaryotic hepatocytes in the nifedipine-ceased group. A significant (p<0.05) increase was observed in one of the hepatocyte AgNOR parameters, AgNOR area\nucleus area ratio (%) in the nifedipine-administered group. This increase may be due to a rise in the synthesis of some enzymes and thus in the synthesis of protein.

Keywords: AgNOR, Calcium channel blocker, Liver, Nifedipine