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Histopathology, TBARS concentration and total protein level of skeletal muscle in newborn rats exposed to hyperoxia and the protective effect of taurine

Abstract:

This study aims to evaluate whether taurine (an antioxidant amino acid) is able to protect developing rat skeletal muscle from the cytotoxic effects of postnatal hyperoxia. For this, two groups of newborn Sprague-Dawley strain rats were exposed to hyperoxia together with their mother, from birth until day P6, P9 and P12. The mother of one group drank 3% taurine solution as drinking water and the mother of the other group only drank water. Two similar groups, but without hyperoxia, were used as controls. For biochemical and histological analysis, the gastrocnemius muscle of the hind limbs was utilised. Oxidative stress was evaluated using the thiobarbituric acid reactive substance analysis technique (TBARS), by spectrophotometric methods, while the plastic embedding technique was applied for histology. The concentration of TBARS in the hyperoxia group was significantly higher than that of the other groups compared. The hyperoxia group also presented structural damage and the most notable were interstitial edema and deformation in the fascicles of muscle fibers. In the hyperoxia-taurine group, TBARS levels decreased and structurally there were no problems of edema and malformations in the muscle. Overall, the results showed that taurine controls oxidative stress and protects skeletal muscle structure during postnatal hyperoxia.