Publication: Structure of the rat tracheal mucosa after chronic intermittent hypoxia or chronic hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Authors
Vera-Cruz, Paulo ; Rito, Miguel ; Diogo, Lucília ; Zagalo, Carlos ; dos Santos, José Martins ; Monteiro, Maria Emília
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Publisher
Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología
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DOI
DOI: 10.14670/HH-11-703
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
. Objective: This paper is aimed at identifying
putative morphological changes induced in the rat’s
tracheal mucosa by chronic hyperbaric oxygen (HBO)
treatment or chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH).
Study Design: Tracheal samples were obtained from
three groups of 11, 12 and 13 adult Wistar rats. The first
group was submitted to 20 sessions of 100 min-long
HBO treatment; the second group was submited to
eucapnic CIH for 35 days; and the third group was not
submitted to any CIH or HBO therapy.
Methods: Four proximal tracheal rings were
collected after sacrifice and neck dissection of the
animals. The samples were processed for both light
microscopy and morphometric analysis. Inflammatory
leukocyte infiltration was evaluated by a semiquantitative method. Unpaired t test and Bernoulli
distribution were applied to evaluate statistical
differences in the data collected from the three groups.
Results: Both CIH and HBO promote an increase in
the thickness of the epithelium and of the basement
membrane of the rat tracheal mucosa, as well as an
increment in the number of infiltrating leukocytes, when
compared with results seen in the untreated group. In the
HBO group there was a significant lack of seromucous
glands, as opposed to the results obtained in the CIH
group.
Conclusions: Chronic HBO and CIH exposure
causes only minor changes in the architecture of the
tracheal mucosa of the rat. The respiratory tract of the rat
showed a mild inflammatory response when subject to
variations of pressure and oxygen content. Apparently
these effects do not constitute a critical issue on
prescribing HBO treatments and in the management of
sleep apnea patients.
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Citation
Histology and histopathology: Vol.31, nº6 (2016)
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