Histologic changes in the liver and kidney tissues of rats with acute alcohol injury and metabolic correction

Abstract

Annotation. The liver and kidneys are among the organs that often suffer from the toxic effects of ethanol. The issue of drug correction of alcoholic organ damage, and in particular the role of H2S, remains insufficiently studied. The aim of the study was to evaluate the role of quercetin, hydrogen sulphide donor NaHS and their combination in the correction of morphological changes in the liver and kidneys of rats with acute alcohol injury (AAI). The study was conducted on 25 white male rats weighing 120-130 g, divided into five groups (5 rats in each group). Animals of groups 2-5 were modelled with AAI by intragastric administration of 40% ethanol at a dose of 20 ml/kg for 7 days. In order to correct the AAI, animals of group 3 were administered quercetin (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneally, once/day, for 7 days), group 4 – the hydrogen sulphide donor NaHS-H2O (3 mg/kg, intraperitoneally, once/day, for 7 days), group 5 – both quercetin and NaHS-H2O in the above doses. Animals of group 1 (control) received an equivalent amount of solvents. Histological examinations were performed according to conventional methods. It has been established that in the liver of rats with AAI there are disturbances in the lobular structure, radial ordering of the hepatic beams, signs of inflammation, hypertrophy and fatty infiltration of hepatocytes. In the kidneys, signs of renal glomerular fragmentation, vascular glomerular compaction, tubular epithelial dystrophy, and inflammation are found. Some improvements in the histological structure of the liver and kidneys were observed with quercetin, but they were inferior to those observed with NaHS. Combined therapy with quercetin and NaHS was most effective in restoring the normal structure of the liver and kidneys of rats: the radial arrangement of hepatic beams was restored, the nuclear cytoplasmic index increased, signs of fatty degeneration of hepatocytes and renal epithelial dystrophy decreased, and the activity of the inflammatory response in the organs decreased. The obtained results histologically confirm the feasibility of using hydrogen sulphide donors to enhance the hepatoprotective and nephroprotective effects of quercetin in the setting of AAI.