DEVELOPMENT OF PATHOMORPHOLOGIC ALTERATIONS IN THE LIVER, KIDNEY AND HEART OF RATS TREATED WITH T-2 TOXIN

The effects of sublethal doses of T-2 toxin on the development and character of pathomorphological alterations in rat liver, kidney and heart were investigated. To this end, Wistar rats received daily doses of T-2 toxin (0.1 x LD50) subcutaneously. Animals were sacrificed successively on days 7, 14, 21 and 28 of the experiment. Paraffin-embedded or, frozen tissue sections were stained by using heamatoxylin eosin (HE), PAS, a trichromatic method according to Masson-Goldner and the Sudan III technique. The alterations induced in the investigated organs were predominantly dystrophic and necrotic in nature while circulatory disorders or proliferative manifestations were seen as secondary phenomena. The character of the alterations varied from parenchymatous dystrophy as the most common finding in the first week, to vacuolar or ballooning dystrophy and further to necrotic changes that were often seen in the third but specifically in the fourth week of exposure. The pathomorphological alterations affecting the liver, the kidney and the heart were observed in all experimental groups as a function of the time of exposure to T-2 toxin. The earliest and most prominent alterations occurred in the kidneys following parenteral introduction of the toxin.