科研之友
微信
新浪微博
Facebook
分享链接
摘要
Some chemotherapeutic agents used for breast cancer (BC) treatment can induce severe side effects in the ovarian tissue. The combination of cyclophosphamide and docetaxel (TC) is widely used for BC treatment; however, its late effects in the ovary are not completely understood. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the structural and ultrastructural alterations in the ovarian stroma induced by TC treatment. Wistar rats were divided into two groups: a control group and a TC group. They were euthanized 5 months after the end of treatment, and their plasma and ovaries were collected. Important alterations were noted. The serum estradiol level was significantly reduced in the TC group compared with the control group. Additionally, the number of apoptotic nuclei was higher in the TC group. The role of the inflammatory response in the development of ovarian damage was investigated, and we found an increased number of mast cells and increased expression of TNF- in the TC group. The involvement of fibrosis was also investigated. The results showed that the TC group had increased expression levels of TGF-1, collagen type I (col-I) and collagen type III (col-III) compared with the control group. Ultrastructural analysis revealed the presence of collagen fibrils in the treated group and illustrated that the ovarian tissue architecture was more disorganized in this group than in the control group. The results from this study are important in the study of chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure and provide further insight into the mechanisms involved in the development of this disease. Lay description Brest cancer (BC) incidence is increasing each year. This disease mostly affects women over fifty years, but its incidence in younger women is getting higher. Among the possible treatments for BC, chemotherapy (CT) is one of the most used. The chemotherapy treatment not only affects the tumor, but all the organs, including the ovary. In the present work we studied the effects in the ovary of rats submitted to CT for BC. We studied two different groups, rats treated with docetaxel and cyclophosphamide, a new drug association that is used for BC, and control group, where the rats received no further treatment. One of the main results found was that the estrogen hormone level was lower on the rats treated for BC, compared to control group. The estrogen hormone is usually present at significantly higher levels in women of reproductive age, and it decreases during the years, until the women start its menopause period. We also investigated the ovarian stroma of the rats. We found that the cells of the ovarian tissue were affected by the CT treatment. It was possible to observe more dead cells in the treated group ovary, when compared to control. WE observed that there was an inflammatory process occurring in the ovarian stroma of treated group, which was probably related to the cell death. We found more collagen and more parameters associated to fibrosis on the ovary of BC treated rats, when compared to control group. Taken together those results helped us to better understand the mechanisms associated with the ovarian failure observed in women treated for BC. It is very important to understand those mechanisms to try to prevent them before the women get infertile after a cancer treatment.
- 出版日期2016-3
