Effects of Chloroquine on the Morphology and Stereology of Some Tissues in Sprague-Dawley Rats

Abstract

Significant binding of chloroquine occurs in the liver, kidney and spleen hence this study was designed to determine the effects of administration of chloroquine on the morphology and stereology of the liver, kidney and spleen. Ten rats were exposed to chloroquine once a day for three days. The treated rats received the 0.125ml/100g body weight of chloroquine phosphate injection intraperitoneally. Control rats received the same amount of normal saline intraperitoneally. The histology of the chloroquine-treated kidney, liver and spleen was also compared with controls. It was observed that chloroquine caused malformation in these tissues. Histologically, the micrographs of control and treated rats, liver, kidney and spleen were compared. Investigations confirmed defects in microscopic structures, e.g. for the kidney there were few renal corpuscles in the treated rats compared with controls. For the liver there were few blood vessels in the treated rats compared with controls. For the spleen there were few white pulps in the treated rats compared with controls with controls. Stereologically, the parameters measured for kidney, liver and spleen was also compared with controls. The estimated absolute volume V =Vv (structure) x v (ref) of the blood vessels, renal corpuscles and white pulps of the fractions were determined and compared. For the liver chloroquine caused a reduction in the absolute volume of the blood vessels when compared with controls. For the kidney, it also caused a reduction in the absolute volume of the white pulps when compared with control rats.