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The effects of exogenous melatonin on the morphology of thyrocytes in pinealectomized and irradiated rats

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Summary.

We investigated the effects of exogenous melatonin on the thyrocytes morphology in gamma-irradiated rats under condition where the pineal gland, as a main physiological source of endogenous melatonin, was removed. Three months after pinealectomy animals were divided into two groups: one group of animals was treated with 0.5 ml of vehicle (ethanol diluted in water) and other group was injected intraperitoneally 2 mg/kg of melatonin dissolved in 0.5 ml of vehicle daily during the period of fourteen days. After this treatment all the animals were irradiated with a single dose of 8 Gy gamma rays. Ionising radiation induced apoptosis, hydropic swelling or/and necrosis in both groups of animals, however these changes were less discerned in the thyrocytes of melatonin-treated animals. Our findings demonstrate that administration of exogenous melatonin prior to irradiation reduces radiation-induced thyrocytes damage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Z. Kundurovic

  2. Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    E. Sofic

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  1. Z. Kundurovic
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  2. E. Sofic
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Kundurovic, Z., Sofic, E. The effects of exogenous melatonin on the morphology of thyrocytes in pinealectomized and irradiated rats. J Neural Transm 113, 49–58 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-005-0396-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-005-0396-z

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