-
The ethical approval of the present study was granted by Laboratory Animal Ethics Committee of Ondokuz Mayıs University. All rats were purchased from the Experimental Animal Research and Application Center of Medicine Faculty of Ondokuz Mayıs University Samsun, Turkey. Twenty-four adult male Wistar albino rats (200 g body weight and 12 weeks old) were used. The rats were randomly selected and maintained in plastic cages under a 12:12 h day/night cycle at a temperature of (22 ± 2 ) °C and humidity of 50% ± 5%. Animals had ad libitum access to food and water during the 28-d experimental period. All rats were randomly assigned into the following four groups (n = 6 per group):
1. Control group: rats were not exposed to EMF, any substance, and stress during the 28-d experimental period. They were only kept in a plastic cage with ad libitum access to food and water.
2. EMF group: rats were exposed to 900 MHz EMF for 1 h/d for 28 d and treated with no substance.
3. LUT group: rats were treated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with LUT dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide [20 µg/(kg·d); Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA] for 28 d[21].
4. EMF + LUT group: Rats were not only exposed to 900 MHz EMF for 1 h/d but also treated i.p. with LUT [20 µg/(kg·d); Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA] during the experiment period.
At the end of the experiment period, cardiac perfusion was performed on all rats under anesthesia by injecting a 5:1 ratio of ketamine/xylazine (ketamine: 0.5 mL, xylazine: 0.1 mL; Sigma Chemical Comp, St. Louis, MO, USA). A 80 mg/kg dose of ketamine is safe as an anesthetic drug but a poor skeletal muscle relaxant; therefore, 10 mg/kg xylazine was administered to induce skeletal muscle relaxation[22]. Then, the CSC tissues were immediately removed and cut into two unequal parts. We used the CSC samples at the C6–C7 level for immunohistochemical, stereological, and histopathological investigation. The rest of the samples at the C1–C5 level was stored at −80 °C for biochemical analysis.
-
EMF exposure procedure was performed in accordance with Yahyazadeh and Altunkaynak[23]. We used a device that generates a 900 MHz continuous electromagnetic wave, with a peak specific absorption rate (SAR) of 2 W/kg and an average power density of (1 ± 0.4) mW/cm2[20,24]. This generator was manufactured by the Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory of Suleyman Demirel University. The localized SAR values were calculated in accordance with the procedure reported by Sirav and Seyhan[6]. Power density was also measured using an EMF meter (Holaday Industry Inc., Adapazarı, Turkey). During EMF exposure, the monopole antenna of the exposure system was perpendicularly located in the center of the round plastic cage. The long axis of the antenna was perpendicular to the long axis of the rats to ensure an equal electric field distribution[24]. Rats were freely placed in the small chambers of the cages; these chambers were separated using thick plastic sheets. Moreover, the rats’ heads were positioned in the direction of the antenna, with a distance of 1 cm from the antenna[2]. A 1 cm-diameter air hole was created on the lid of the plastic cage to reduce stress. Lastly, the rats were exposed to 900 MHz EMF for 1 h/d for 28 d at an environmental temperature of (22 ± 2) °C.
-
Dissected CSC samples were fixed in 10% formalin solution, followed by tissue processing, which includes dehydration, clearing, and embedding. Through the use of a rotary microtome, consecutive sections were cut at a thickness of 7 μm and in an interval of 1/140. These sections were selected on the basis of a systematic random sampling technique. The CSC paraffin sections were then mounted on glass slides and stained with cresyl violet for stereological and histological examination[24]. All sections were photographed using an HD digital camera (Leica Microsystems Ltd., CH 9435, Heerbrugg, Switzerland) and a Leica DM2500 LED microscope (Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany). We scored motor neuron degeneration and motor neurons with sparse Nissl substance as follows: 0, none; 1, mild; 2, moderate; 3, severe in the CSC samples.
-
The unbiased physical dissection and Cavalieri methods were used to estimate the number of motor neurons and the mean volume of CSC tissues (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Images of spinal cords for the stereological procedures of the Cavalieri principle (A and B) and the physical dissector (C and D). Image (C), reference section; image (D), look-up section; X, motor neurons hitting the exclusion lines; white arrowhead, motor neuron inside the counting frames in the reference sections; black arrowhead, motor neuron hitting the inclusion line in the reference section; white arrowhead, motor neuron located within the counting frame in the reference section; black arrow, motor neuron located within the counting frames in the reference and look-up sections. Motor neurons (white and black arrowhead) located within the reference section but not in the look-up section were considered for counting.
-
Volume estimation was performed using the unbiased Cavalieri and point-counting methods[23,25]. First, 7 μm transverse serial sections were photographed, and then a grid of the testing points was randomly superimposed on micrographs. Second, the point density of the point-counting grid was validated through a pilot study. The number of points hitting the regions of interest was counted in accordance with the Cavalieri principle. Lastly, the area of each section was calculated using the following formula[26,27]:
$$ {\text{A} }{\text{r}}{\text{e}}{\text{a}}\left({\text{A}}\right)={\text{a}}\left({\text{p}}\right)\times \;\sum {\text{P}} $$ (1) where a (p) is the point interval area, and ΣP is the number of points hitting the regions of each section. The mean volume of the region of interest was estimated using the following formula:
$$ {\text{V}}{\text{o}}{\text{l}}{\text{u}}{\text{m}}{\text{e}}\left({\text{V}}\right)={\text{t}} \times \sum {\text{A}} $$ (2) where t is the total thickness of each section and interval, and ΣA is the area of the region of interest.
-
The number of motor neurons was estimated using the physical dissection method[25,28]. Fifteen to twenty dissection pairs sampled from each CSC tissue were used for the investigation. These consecutive paired sections were photographed, and then the images were transferred to a private computer. An unbiased counting frame was randomly placed on the same counting field of a pair. On the basis of the principles of physical dissection, the motor neurons that appeared in the reference section but not in the look-up section were accepted for counting. The numerical density of motor neurons was estimated as follows[29]:
$$ {\text{N}}_{\text{v}}=\frac{\sum{\text{Q}}-}{\sum {\text{V}}\;{\text{d}}{\text{i}}{\text{s}}{\text{s}}{\text{e}}{\text{c}}{\text{t}}{\text{o}}{\text{r}}} $$ (3) where ΣQ is the number of motor neurons counted in each animal, and ΣV dissector is the total volume of the dissected frames in the reference sections. Lastly, the total number of motor neurons was calculated using the following formula:
$$ {\text{T}}{\text{N }}\left({\text{t}}{\text{o}}{\text{t}}{\text{a}}{\text{l}}\;{\text{m}}{\text{o}}{\text{t}}{\text{o}}{\text{r}}\;{\text{n}}{\text{e}}{\text{u}}{\text{r}}{\text{o}}{\text{n}}\;{\text{c}}{\text{e}}{\text{l}}{\text{l}}{\text{s}}\right)={{\text{N}}}_{{\text{V}}}\times {{\text{V}}}_{{\text{r}}{\text{e}}{\text{f}}} $$ (4) where Vref is the mean volume of the CSC, and Nv is the numerical density of the motor neurons.
The values of the coefficients of error and variation respectively showed that the number of motor neurons counted in each animal and each group was sufficient[30].
-
CSC samples were taken from the freezer and then homogenized in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) to maintain a constant pH at 12,000 ×g for 2 min on ice (IKA, Germany). Homogenized tissues were centrifuged at 3,000 ×g for 20 min at 4 °C for preparing supernatants. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity was determined in accordance with the method reported by Sun et al.[31]. On the basis of this method, the generation rate of superoxide radicals was measured as a result of reaction between xanthine and xanthine oxidase. Lastly, samples were analyzed using a UV–vis spectrophotometer (Shimadzu UV-MINI 1240; Shimadzu; Istanbul, Turkey) at 560 nm. Protein assays were also performed in accordance with Lowry et al.[32]. Superoxide dismutase activity was expressed as units per milligram protein.
-
The high-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) is known as a mediator of the neurovascular unit, which may participate in causing damage to the central nervous system[33]. An anti-HMGB1 antibody kit (ab79823, Abcam, Cambridge, UK) was used to detect HMGB1 molecules in astrocytes. An immunohistochemical study was conducted on paraffin-embedded sections mounted on poly-lysine slides. Briefly, sections were treated with 3% H2O2 to block the endogenous peroxidases for 15 min and incubated at 37 °C. Then, the sections were immersed in ficin solution (Invitrogen) to block endogenous peroxidase activity for 15 min. SuperBlock blocking buffer (ScyTek Laboratories, SitoGen Biomedikal Ltd., İstanbul, Turkey) was applied to eliminate nonspecific immunoreactivity for 7 min. Sections were treated with anti-HMGB1 antibody diluted 1:350 at a temperature of 37 °C and humidity of 70% ± 5% for 2 h for primary antibody binding. Subsequently, sections were washed in phosphate-buffered saline thrice for 5 min, followed by biotinylated secondary antibody for 30 min. Streptavidin peroxidase was used for visualization of antibody binding. These sections were incubated with 3-amino-9-ethyl carbazyl chromogen until red coloration was observed. Subsequently, all sections were counterstained with Mayer’s hematoxylin and analyzed using a light microscope (Leica, LDM 4000, Wetzlar, Germany). Lastly, immunoreactivity was evaluated by calculating the histologic score (HScore) value of each CSC using the following formula:
$$ {\text{H}}{\text{S}}{\text{c}}{\text{o}}{\text{r}}{\text{e}}=\sum {\text{P}}{\text{i}}\;({\text{i}}+1) $$ where Pi is percentage of the cells, and i is intensity scores.
-
Statistical analysis was performed using IBM version 25.0 SPSS software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). One-way ANOVA and the Tukey post hoc test were conducted for multiple comparisons. The results were expressed as mean ± SD. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Effect of Luteolin on Biochemical, Immunohistochemical, and Morphometrical Changes in Rat Spinal Cord following Exposure to a 900 MHz Electromagnetic Field
doi: 10.3967/bes2020.078
- Received Date: 2019-09-30
- Accepted Date: 2020-04-01
-
Key words:
- Electromagnetic field /
- Luteolin /
- Motor neuron /
- Oxidative stress /
- Rat /
- Spinal cord
Abstract:
Citation: | Ahmad Yahyazadeh, Berrin Zuhal Altunkaynak. Effect of Luteolin on Biochemical, Immunohistochemical, and Morphometrical Changes in Rat Spinal Cord following Exposure to a 900 MHz Electromagnetic Field[J]. Biomedical and Environmental Sciences, 2020, 33(8): 593-602. doi: 10.3967/bes2020.078 |