Effect of Ethanol and KHAT (Catha Edulis Forsk) on Cerebellar Cortex of the Rat

Muche, Abebe (2004) Effect of Ethanol and KHAT (Catha Edulis Forsk) on Cerebellar Cortex of the Rat. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

This experimental study included three age groups of rats: post natal day (PND) 6, 13 and 30. Each group contained control, ethanol treated (ET), khat treated (KT) and combination of khat and ethanol treated (CT) categories. They were treated with vehicle, ethanol and khat, respectively for 30 days using blunt needle. At the end of experiment, all the animals were scarified, their brain was dissected out and immersion fixed. The brain and cerebellum were separately weighed, and cerebellum was processed for routine histology and sectioned. The serially sectioned tissues of cerebellum was stained with toluidine blue and observed using light microscope. In the rats of all age groups, the body weight increment at the end of experimental period was significantly less in the treated ones than their respective controls at P< 0.01. Between the treated rats, this was less for the ET rats than the KT rats, although not statistically significant (P>0.05). Similarly, the weight of the brain as a whole and cerebellar weight, part of brain, of the treated rats were significantly less than their respective controls (P<0.01). These weights were also less for the ET rats than for the KT rats, though not statistically significant. In the rats of PND 6 group, the following results were found: The volume of cerebellar cortex as well as the total number of Purkinje neurons of the ET rats were significantly less than the controls and KT rats at P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively. However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the controls and KT rats. The numerical density and volume fraction of Purkinje neurons of ET rats was found to be significantly greater than those of control or KT rats (P<0.05). In addition, the numerical density and volume fraction of Purkinje neurons were greater in the KT rats than their corresponding controls, but nostatistically significant difference was observed. The mean diameter of Purkinje neurons was significantly less in the ET rats than in KT rats which in turn was significantly less than the control rats (P<0.01). In the rats of PND 13 and 30, the patterns of the results of all the different parameters investigated consistently followed those of the rats of PND 6 as summarized above, However, the values were found to be statistically non- significant. In addition, the results of all the parameters for the CT rats of PND 30 rats showed values in between KT and ET rats, though these were also statistically non- significant. However, CT rats of PND 6 and 13 died after two days of treatment. In conclusion, the study depicted that PND 6 is an extremely vulnerable period during which the rat cerebellar Purkinje neurons are particularly susceptible to the effect of high dose of ethanol. However, a similar level and duration of ethanol exposure commencing during PND 13 and 30 has no significant effect on the volume of cerebellar cortex, numerical density of Purkinje neurons, total number of Purkinje neurons and volume fraction of Purkinje neurons. Treatment of khat and combination of khat and ethanol is lethal at an early age, however it does not significantly change the above mentioned parameters at the latter ages (PND 30).

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Cerebellar cortex, Purkinje neurons, Stereology, Khat, Ethanol, Post natal day
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology Q Science > QM Human anatomy
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Emmanuel Ndorimana
Date Deposited:	13 Jul 2018 08:31
Last Modified:	13 Jul 2018 08:31
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/7388

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