Abstract:
Histopathological changes in the pancreatic tissue of diabetic animal models
are important to elucidate pancreatic mechanisms of novel antidiabetic agents.
This study aimed to describe histopathological changes of haematoxylin and
eosin (H&E) stained sections of the pancreatic tissues of high-fat diet (HFD)
fed streptozotocin (STZ) induced Wistar rats. Wistar rats fed with HFD for
four weeks were injected with STZ (30, 40, and 50 mg/kg, IP). Rats with
fasting serum glucose concentration >11.1 mmol/L were considered as
‘diabetic’ and grouped (n=10 per group) as HFD+STZ (30 mg/kg), HFD+STZ
(40 mg/kg) and HFD+STZ (50 mg/kg) rats. At the end of the study, pancreatic
tissues were excised and stained with H&E. The pancreatic islets of healthy
rats were normal in size and spherical with well-demarcated borders. HFD
feeding resulted in hyperplasia of islets and irregular borders. The density of
islets was reduced by 16.7% (p>0.05), 36.7% (p>0.05), and 50.0% (p=0.028)
upon STZ 30, 40, and 50 mg/kg injections, respectively. Hypertrophy of islet
cells was noted while some islet cells showed evidence of cell death.
Furthermore, marked fatty change in the exocrine pancreas was observed in
STZ-induced rats. The degree of observed changes increased in a dosedependent
manner in which HFD+STZ (50 mg/kg) rats showed the most
prominent reduction of pancreatic islets with prominent fatty change in the
exocrine pancreas. In conclusion, STZ (30−50 mg/kg) produces partial
destruction of the pancreatic islets in a dose-dependent manner in HFD-fed
rats. Prominent alterations in the pancreatic tissue of the Wistar rats fed with
HFD, followed by STZ (50 mg/kg) could be useful in elucidating pancreatic
mechanisms of novel antidiabetic agents.
