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

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and irradiation is the first treatment of choice. Radiotherapy in head and neck cancer leads to salivary gland damage resulting in changes, including pH of saliva, stimulated salivary flow rate, and saliva buffering capacity. The prevalence of xerostomia post-radiation is over 90%. The consequences of xerostomia are serious: oral lesions, dental caries, gingivitis and periodontal disease, candidiasis, halitosis, impaired taste and oral discomfort. The purpose of the present investigation is to identify the effect of Vitamin B17 on irradiated parotid salivary gland of albino rats. For the investigation to be carried out and the purpose to be fulfilled, twenty-eight adult healthy male albino rats weighing about 200-250 grams were used. The animals were fed the standard laboratory diet throughout the experimental period. All the rats were subjected to a single dose of gamma-radiation of 5 Gy. The animals were classified into two main equal groups of 14 rats: I. Group A: received 5 ml of saline (no treatment just placebo) intragastric daily, immediately after irradiation. II. Group B: received a single dose of 400 mg/kg (GAK) (containing vitamin B17) intragastric daily, immediately after irradiation. Half of the rats in each group (7 rats) were sacrificed at day (14) and the other half were sacrificed at day (30). The parotid glands were dissected out, fixed in calcium formalin and embedded in paraffin. Specimen were prepared to be mounted on glass slides for H&E & immunohistochemical staining. Using image analyzer, the optical density of immunohistochemical staining of EGF in terms of area percent, was calculated by digital image analysis

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