Ultrastructural Effects of Nicotine Administration on Sympathetic Nervous System of Adrenal Gland Medulla in Pats: a Oualitative Study by Electron Microscopy Siçanlarda Ni̇koti̇n Uygulanmasinin Sürrenal Bez Medullasinin Sempati̇k Si̇ni̇r Si̇stemi̇ Üzeri̇ne Olan Etki̇leri̇: Elektron Mi̇kroskopla Gerçekleşti̇ri̇len Kali̇tati̇f Bi̇r Çalişma

Morphology of sympathetic nervous system of adrenal medulla was observed in VVistar rats injected with subcutaneous nicotine. They vvere injected subcutaneously with low dose (2 mg/kg/day) or high dose (4 mg/kg/day) nicotine for seven weeks. Morphological changes in the medulla of adrenal glands vvere investigated in detail using electron microscopy. Uitrastructurally, we found that the appearance of sinusoids and endothelial cells containing epinephrine (E) and norepineprine (NE) granules vvere normal. İn both low and high dose nicotine treatment groups, the granules vvithin cells secreting E and NE were dense. Furthermore, in addition to an enlargment in the sinusoids of the adrenal medulla, depositions in the nuclei and an excessive vacuolisation due to increased secretion especialiy in NE secreting cells vvere noted. There was also hypertrophy of the vvalls of endothelial cells around sinusoids in animals treated vvith high-dose nicotine. We conclude that nicotine has a dose-dependent effect causing obvious morphological changes on the sympathetic nervous system of adrenal medulla in rats, suggesting its hypertensive effect.