Histological and Histometrical Study of the Protective Role of α-Tocopherol against Sodium Arsenite Toxicity in Rat Ovaries

This study examines histometrical changes induced by sodium arsenite (SA), as an environmental pollutant, and investigates the protective effect of alpha-tocopherol on ovaries of SA-treated rats during the prenatal stage until sexual maturity. Rats were classified into groups: control, SA (8 ppm/day), alpha-tocopherol (100 ppm/day), and SA + alpha-tocopherol. Treatment was performed from pregnancy until maturation when the rats and ovaries were weighed. The Cavalieri method was used to estimate volume of the ovaries, cortex, medulla, and corpus luteum. The mean diameter of oocytes, granulosa cells, and nuclei were measured and volume was estimated using the Nucleator method. The number of oocytes and thickness of the zona pellucida (ZP) were determined using an optical dissector and orthogonal intercept method, respectively. SA reduced the body and ovary weight, the number of secondary, antral and Graafian oocytes, volume of the ovaries, cortex, medulla and corpus luteum, mean diameter and volume of oocytes in primordial and primary follicles, mean diameter and volume of oocyte nuclei in all types of follicles, and mean thickness of the ZP in secondary and antral follicles. Also, the mean diameter and volume of granulosa cells and their nuclei in antral and Graafian follicles decreased significantly. Vacuolization and vascular congestion in the corpus luteum and an increase in the number of atretic oocytes were seen in the SA group. Most of these parameters were unchanged from the control level in the SA+ alpha-tocopherol group. It was concluded that alpha-tocopherol supplementation reduced the toxic effects of SA exposure on ovarian tissue in rats.