Study of morphological alterations of the adrenal glands in the neoplastic cachexia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/1679-0367.2009v30n2p163Keywords:
Walker Carcinoma 256, Cachexia, Adrenal Glands, HPA axis.Abstract
Advanced cancer occurs with nutritional and metabolic alterations that characterize neoplastic cachexia. When homeostasis is compromised, the adrenal glands have a fundamental role in the neuroendocrine response. Our purpose in this research was to study morphological alterations of the adrenal glands in the development of cancer associated to cachexia. Cachexia experimental model induced by Walker 256 tumor in Wistar rats, was used. Animals were sacrificed 12 days after tumor cells inoculation and adrenal glands removal for histopathologic analysis by means of hematoxylin and eosin stain. Nutritional parameters, cachexia index and adrenal glands weight, were evaluated. Animals with tumor presented cachexia index of 16,6 ± 4%. Adrenal glands average weight was significantly higher in the tumor group (40 mg ± 10) than in the control group (25 mg ± 3). Adrenal cortex of animals with cachexia showed hypertrophy of the zona fasciculata and reticular layer, with voluminous spongiocytes; vascular congestion and stasis were observed in the medullar region. Results were similar in the pair and ad libitum-fed groups. Animals with cancer cachexia showed compromised morphology of the adrenal glands which showed alterations related to stress response, suggesting increased cathecolamine secretion and activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2010 Semina: Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The Copyright of the published manuscripts belongs to the Journal. Since manuscripts are published in an open access Journal, they are freely availablefor private use or for use for educational and non-commercial purposes.
The Journal has the right to make, in the original document, changes regarding linguistic norms, orthography, and grammar, with the purpose of ensuring the standard norms of the language and the credibility of the Journal. It will, however, respect the writing style of the authors.
When necessary, conceptual changes, corrections, or suggestions will be forwarded to the authors. In such cases, the manuscript shall be subjected to a new evaluation after revision.
Responsibility for the opinions expressed in the manuscripts lies entirely with the authors.
This Journal is licensed with a license Creative Commons Assignment-NonCommercial 4.0 International.