Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine - Department of Oral Biology

Salivary glands are exocrine glands constituting part of the digestive system. They are affected by various drugs, among which, are the immunosuppressive drugs, like Cyclosporine-A (CsA) which plays a major role in transplant medicine. Thus, this work aimed to study the effects of CsA on the rat submandibular salivary glands and to evaluate the possible therapeutic effect of purslane on CsA induced salivary gland alterations. Materials & Methods: 30 adult male albino rats, about 3-4 months age and 150-200 gm weight, were equally divided into 3 groups: control group which received a vehicle, CsA group which received 20 mg/kg/day of CsA, and combination group which received CsA combined to 400mg/kg/day of purslane extract. All rats were sacrificed 3 weeks from the beginning of the experiment then the submandibular salivary glands were dissected out, fixed, embedded and tissue sections were prepared for histological staining by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) as well as immunohistochemical staining through anti-Ki67 antibody. Finally, the area percentage of Ki-67 immunoexpression was measured and statistically compared among the studied groups. Results: histological examination of the control group revealed the normal histology of the submandibular salivary gland, while in the CsA group; the acinar cells showed numerous vacuolizations and reduced cytoplasmic basophilia. The granular convoluted tubules (GCTs) revealed decreased apical eosinophilic granular content & cells of the duct system presented vacuolizations. Some excretory ducts retained secretion and marked chronic inflammatory cells infiltrate as well as congested blood vessels were seen. Regarding the combination group, the acini had well defined boundaries and marked reduction occurred in the number of vacuolizations among the acinar and ductal cells. The acini revealed increased cytoplasmic basophilia and the GCTs displayed increased granular eosinophilic content. Excretory ducts rarely retained secretion, some blood vessels were congested and the C.T. septa scarcely displayed chronic inflammatory cell infiltration. Immunohistochemical examination of the Ki-67 stained sections showed a few number of positive nuclei in the control group, while the CsA group revealed an apparent increase in the number of positive nuclei. On the other hand, the combination group displayed marked reduction in Ki-67 immunoreactivity than that in the CsA group

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