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Bee (Apis mellifera) Venom Produced Toxic Effects of Higher Amplitude in Rat Thoracic Aorta than in Skeletal Muscle—An Ultrastructural Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2012

Adrian Florea  and
Constantin Crăciun
Adrian Florea*
Affiliation:
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 6 Pasteur St., 400349, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Constantin Crăciun
Affiliation:
Electron Microscopy Center, “Babeş-Bolyai” University, 5-7 Clinicilor St., 400006, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: aflorea@umfcluj.ro
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Abstract

In this study, changes produced in aorta and triceps surae muscle of Wistar rats as response to bee venom (BV) envenomation were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and morphometry. A subchronic treatment of 30 days with daily doses of 700 μg BV/kg and an acute-lethal treatment with a single dose of 62 mg BV/kg were performed. The subchronic treatment resulted in endothelial cell retraction, a thicker subendothelial layer, and thinner elastic laminae and musculoelastic layers in aorta, and thicker endothelium and basal laminae in skeletal muscle. In both tissues polymorphous, swollen mitochondria with disrupted cristae were observed. The acute treatment produced extensive endothelial lesions, breakdown of the collagen layer and migration of muscle cells toward the intima in the aorta, and dilatation of endoplasmic reticulum in the skeletal muscle cells. Mitochondria were almost devoid of cristae or with few circular cristae in the smooth muscle cells while most of the mitochondria presented abnormal circular cristae in the skeletal muscle cells. Degenerative alterations in the aorta were of higher intensity in our experiments—both the intima and media strongly responded to BV, in contrast to those found at the level of the skeletal muscle cells where a moderate degenerative myopathy was recorded.

Keywords

bee venomaortasmooth muscleskeletal muscleendothelial cellmitochondriaabnormal cristaeultrastructure
Type
Biological and Biomedical Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , April 2012 , pp. 304 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2012

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