Effect of ovariectomy and of estrogen treatment on the adrenal gland and body weight in rats

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of estrogen on adrenal gland histology, and to ascertain whether or not estrogen regulates body and adrenal gland wet weight gain in the ovariectomized rat model. Two experiments investigated the effects of ovariectomy and estrogen replacement on the body and adrenal gland weight.

METHODS: We used 36 female Wistar Albino rats in this study. The study took placed in the Department of Medical Science Application and Research Center of Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey, in 2002. Group 1 (control group) received no ovariectomy; all animals in the other groups were bilaterally ovariectomized and kept for 60 days. We designated group 2 and 3 as sham-operated group and bilaterally ovariectomized then in addition, group 3 received estradiol. We then cut the paraffin sections, which we obtained by routine histologic methods, into 5 mm and stained them with hematoxylin-eosin. We later evaluated the stained sections under a light microscope.

RESULTS: The body weight was higher in the ovariectomized rats compared to the control groups. Ovariectomy did not result in significant changes in the wet weight of the adrenal gland. Furthermore, body weight increased after estrogen therapy, and the wet weight of the adrenal gland increased in the estrogen group. It was obtained in the sham-operated group that ovariectomy resulted in a decrease in the activity of the adrenal cortex. In the sham-operated and estrogen group, we observed a prominent capsule, expanded zona glomerulosa cells, regular parallel columns in zona fasciculata and there was an increased vascularization in the medulla, after the estrogen treatment.

CONCLUSION: We determined that bilateral ovariectomy can result in a decrease in the activity of the adrenal cortex. In contrast, estradiol injection can cause a significant increase in the activity of the adrenal cortex and medulla.