title: Morphological alterations in blood vessel endothelia of rat brain after administration of CCNU (lomustine).
abstract: Studies were performed on adult Wistar strain rats which were given four one-week spaced, intragastric doses of 2.5 mg or (the last dose) 5.0 mg CCNU. The animals were sacrificed one week after the last dose of the cytostatic drug. Cell nuclei of blood vessel endothelia in the parietal cerebral cortex and in the frontal-lateral part of the thalamus were examined. Karyo- and cytophotometric measurements were performed on sections subjected to Feulgen's reaction, using an automatic microscope image analyzer Morphoquant (Carl Zeiss, Jena). In CCNU-administered rats, blood vessel endothelia in the brain exhibited morphological alterations in the form of edema, increased DNA content in cell nuclei, modified distribution and density of chromatin lumps (nuclear chromatin lumps shifted towards the center of cell nucleus in the parietal cortex and in the thalamus, increased density of nuclear chromatin in the thalamus). Morphological alterations, changes in DNA content and in the nuclear chromatin status were of a similar type in blood vessel endothelia in the two examined structures but were somewhat more intense in endothelia of the cortex than in thalamus endothelia.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D004727:Endothelium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D008130:Lomustine / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D008130:Lomustine