Differences in the structural organisation of liver tissue in experimental rats 1 and 3 hours after administration of Leiurus macroctenus scorpion venom

Scorpion bites are a serious threat to human health and life in almost all countries of the world. The amount and toxicity of the poison that enters the body of the victims depend on the interspecific variability of these animals. Scorpion venom usually causes the development of local, cardiotoxic, neurotoxic and vegetative effects. The study aimed to determine the differences in the structural organisation of the liver tissue of experimental rats 1 and 3 hours after the administration of the venom of the scorpion Leiurus macroctenus. The study was conducted on 10 male rats (200±10 g), which were injected intramuscularly with 0.5 ml of a solution of venom (28.8 μg/ml; LD50=0.08 mg/kg) of the scorpion Leiurus macroctenus, dissolved in saline (0.9 %). The control group (10 rats) was injected with only 0.5 ml of saline (0.9 %). For microscopic examination, samples of liver tissue from animals of all groups were taken. The pieces were fixed in 10 % formalin solution for 1 day. Then, the pieces were dehydrated in alcohols of increasing concentration and embedded in paraffin blocks. Histological preparations of rat livers were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Histological preparations were studied using a SEO SCAN light microscope and photodocumented using a Vision CCD Camera video camera with an image output system from histological preparations. One hour after the rats were administered the venom of the scorpion Leiurus macroctenus, no pronounced changes in the structural organisation of the liver of experimental rats were observed. Infiltration of the portal tracts and sometimes the surrounding parenchyma of the organ with lymphocytes, histiocytes and neutrophilic leukocytes was noted. Hepatocytes near the foci of infiltration underwent vacuolar dystrophy, which are reactive changes in response to the action of the venom. In rats that were withdrawn from the experiment three hours after the administration of the venom of the scorpion Leiurus macroctenus, more pronounced changes in the structural organisation of the liver were observed. Areas of disruption of the order of the hepatic lamellae were noted, and the number of binucleated hepatocytes increased, as well as their nuclear-cytoplasmic index. An increase in the number of Kupffer cells was detected; the presence of vacuolar or fatty dystrophy characterised the vast majority of hepatocytes. Pronounced infiltration of the portal tracts and the surrounding liver parenchyma was observed with a predominance of lymphocytes and macrophages.