Cytological Alterations of Aortic Adventitial Fibroblasts in vitro Under the Action of Methionine in Sand Rats, Psammomys obesus

Methionine is an essential amino acid involved in critical metabolic process, and regulation of methionine flux through metabolism is important to supply this amino acid for cell needs.Elevation in plasma methionine commonly occurs due to mutations in methionine-metabolizing enzymes, such as methionine adenosyltransferase.This elevation could cause a hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy), an independent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis.Several lines of evidences suggest that HHcy due to methionine supplementation can affect the matrix production by involving cell types, such as vascular smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts.To this end, aortic adventitial fibroblasts primary cultures were exposed to methionine.Methionine at a concentration of 20 mM produced definite effects on the in vitro grown fibroblasts after 72 hours.The most evident were retraction of cell processes, vacuolation and fragmentation of the cytoplasm, production of irregular contour of the nucleus and nucleolus, decrease of cytoplasmic basophilia and the presence of pycnosis.