Ultrastructural aspects of the effects of L-carnitine administration on epithelial cells in the aging rat tongue.
Hippokratia
; 18(1): 32-6, 2014 Jan.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25125949
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The investigators hypothesized that degenerative changes accumulate in epithelial cells in the aging rat tongue and that carnitine administration is effective at reversing these alterations. MATERIAL ANDMETHODS:
To gain insights into the effects of carnitine on epithelial cells of the tongue, the investigators used 15 Wistar rats [3 experimental groups 5- (A), 12- (B) and 18- (C) month old rats] with 4 rats per group and 1 control group with 1 rat per age group). L-carnitine was administered intraperitoneally to animals of the experimental group for 35 days. Samples of the tongue were processed for electron microscopy.RESULTS:
Degeneration of epithelial cells of the rat tongue was shown to begin early in life (5 months) and alterations were shown to accumulate while aging. L-carnitine administration eliminated degenerative changes when administered in the first age group A, while in the older rats the regeneration was only partial for the epithelium (groups B and C).CONCLUSIONS:
The results of this study suggest that profound ultrastructural alterations commence in the degenerating rat tongue and that L-carnitine administration results into partial regeneration of epithelial cells.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Hippokratia
Year:
2014
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Germany