Morphological Changes in Rat Liver Tissue During Chronic Oral Intake of Micro- and Nano-Sized Copper Oxide

CuO in the form of micro- and nano-sized colloidal particles enters the human body from environment. The aim of the study is the identification of morphological changes in rat liver tissues during chronic oral intake of micro- and nanosized CuO by image analysis. The experiments were performed on 45 male Wistar rats (3 groups: experimental (nanosized CuO); comparison (micro-sized CuO); control (water without CuO)). Suspensions CuO were administered to the rats orally once a day. Quantitative morphological parameters were determined by pathomorphological examination and image analysis using the method of constructing Voronoi diagrams (the ratio of cells of various shapes); average cell area; the average size of the cell perimeter and the number of cells per unit area. As a result of the analysis by the constructing Voronoi diagrams, was found that the main part of the model cells corresponding to hepatocytes has the shape of a hexagon. In the control group, their share is 35.89%, in the experience group – 29.09%, and in the comparison group – 30.59%. The density of cells’ distribution in the comparison group is 7 times higher than in the control group; in the experimental group the same indicator is 4 times higher than in the control group. Collectively, the characteristics of morphological changes in liver tissue indicate greater toxicity of nano-sized copper oxide compared to its micro-sized analogue.