A STUDY OF APOPTOTIC CHANGES AND DNA FRAGMENTATION OF GINGIVA AFTER COLCHICINE ADMINISTRATION IN RATS

Abstract

Colchicine is an anti-inflammatory and antitumour drug. It is used for the treatment of many diseases and syndromes. Little attention was directed to the oral cavity, particularly the effect of colchicine on the gingiva. So the importance of this work is to discuss the effect of colchicine on rat gingiva and how this drug may affect the integrity of the gingival tissues based on the histological, immunohistochemical and molecular biological science. Thirty male albino rats weighed 200 gm each, were used in this study. They were divided into two main groups: The control group and study group. The control group animais were received a daily oral administration of distilled. water and subdivided into 3 subgroups (2 animals each), which matched the study group in the time of euthanasia. The study group comprises twenty tour amimals. they received a daily oral administration of therapeutic dose of colchicine, dissolved in distilled water, of 135 JJg/kg body weight using gastrointestinal tube and they were subdivided into 3 subgroups (8 animals each) according to the time of euthanasia as follows : . One week group ( W1 group ) :In which animals were euthanized after one week of the drug administration. Four weeks group ( W4 group ) :In which animals were euthanized after four weeks of the drug administration. Eight weeks group ( W8 group ) :In which animals were received colchicine for 4 weeks and then euthanized after 8 weeks to examine the cumulative effect of the drug.