Stereological Study on the Neurons of Superior Cervical Sympathetic Ganqllon in Diabetic Rats

Background: most research on autonomic dysfunction ofdiabetes mellitus is conducted on ganglions innervating gastrointestinal(gi) tract and there are limited works focusing oncervical sympathetic ganglia. the effects of diabetes mellitus(om) on the neurons of superior cervical sympathetic ganglion(scsg) are investigated by stereological methods.material and methods: female rats (n=72) randomly dividedinto dm (blood glucose =400-600 mg/dl) and control (n=36)groups. rats were sacrificed at 4-, 8- and 12-weeks of inductionof om (65 mg/kg streptozotocin, ip) . the same procedurefollowed chronologically in control group. scsg of bothgroups were removed, fixed, and embedded in cylindricalblocks . isotropic uniform random sections obtained and stained.the mean particle volume (according to the method of volumeweightedmean particle estimation) of the perikarya and nucleiof ganglion cells (neurons) were estimated using the pointsampleintercepts method.results: there was no significant difference between themean perikaryal and nuclear volumes of om and control ratsafter 4·, 8- and i2-weeks. there was, however, a significantincrease in the mean volume of perikarya and nuclei of theneuronal cells of om rats at 8- and 12-weeks diabetes as comparedwith those of 4-weeks.conclusion: the mean volume of scsg and their nuclei werenot significantly reduced after 4-, 8-and 12-weeks in om ratsand these cells continued their normal growth.