Effects of L-Arginine and L-NAME on Rat Duodenum Epithelial Cell Numbers and Height

Nowadays Nitric oxide (NO) has known as a regulator of many biological processes in many cells including epithelial cell of gastrointestinal tract. In this study we investigated the effects of L-Arginine and L-NAME on epithelial cell number and height of duodenum in rats.

40 female rats of 200-250 gr weight and 8 weeks old were divided into 5 groups, containing 8 rats in each group. Except the control group, the other groups received normal saline (2 ml/kg), L-Arginine (200mg/kg), L-NAME (20mg/kg) and L-Arginine+L-NAME with same doses Intraperitoneally for 3 days. Two weeks later, duodenum was expelled out and fixed in 10% formalin. After tissue processing, the sections were stained with H&E method. The histological changes were assessed via light microscopy. Cell number and height were evaluated using morphometric and histologic methods. Statistical analysis was made by One-Way ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc test to evaluate the statistical significance between different groups. P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

There was an increase in the cell number and height of duodenal epithelium in L-NAME group; also a decrease in the cell height of duodenal epithelium in L-Arginine group. No significant difference was observed between groups (p>0.05).

Despite the importance of NO in many cells function, the results demonstrated that L-Arginine and L-NAME has no effect on number and height of duodenal epithelium.