Changes of Myocardial Glycogen Content in Rats Administered with Moderate Doses of Furfural

Furfural is produced by dehydration process when strong acids react with pentoses and formation of furfural occurs. It is used as a solvent for extracting mineral oils in many industrial branches and can also be found in orange juice or in brandy. Furfural is not toxic, but its oxidative by-product, pyromucic acid that is conjugated to glycine in the liver and excreted mostly in urine, has harmful effects. The experiments were performed on 9-week old Wistar rats with body weight of about 259 gr. The animals were treated with furfuraldehyde C4C3OCHO, “Sigma chemical Co”, as 1% solution in drinking water, first at a dose of 20mg/kg body weight for seven days, then the dosage was gradually increased for 45 days when the animals were sacrificed. The analysis was performed on the myocardium of experimental animals. The methods of Hematoksilin-oesin staining (HE) and PAS (periodic acid Shiff) staining were used. Toxic changes were detected in myocardiocytes, showing partial loss of striation, sporadic discoloration of the nucleus and cytoplasm coagulation associated with the presence of expressed hyperemia and the massive loss of glycogen in cardiomyocytes as well. Acta Medica Medianae 2014;53(1):5-9.