Chitosan Nanoparticles Alleviated the Adverse Effects of Sildenafil on the Oxidative Stress Markers and Antioxidant Enzyme Activities in Rats

Figure 5

Photomicrographs of liver sections from rats treated for 21 days with: (a–d) sildenafil; (e) uncoated SF chitosan nanoparticles (SF-CS NPs); (f) Tween 80-coated chitosan nanoparticles (T-SF-CS NPs) in comparison with (g) sections from untreated control rats. Adverse hepatic effects of sildenafil included (a) necrosis of the hepatic cells with loss of nuclei and destruction of the normal hepatic cells (long arrow) and fibrosis of hepatocytes (short arrows); (b) regeneration of hepatic cells with oval cells hyperplasia (long arrows) and regeneration of binucleated hepatic cells with the vesicular body (short arrow); (c) hemolysis of the blood in the portal veins (long arrow) associated with inflammatory cells with fibrosis in the portal areas (short arrow); and (d) dilation of central veins engorged with blood (arrows). SF-CS NPs treatment (e) resulted in white fluffy cytoplasm surrounding the central nucleus of hepatocytes and aggregation of inflammatory cells surrounding the central vein and portal region ballooned in size. Sections for the rat group treated with T-SF-CS NPs (f) showed a liver architecture and cells close to those of untreated normal control rats (g), indicating protection of the liver against the harmful effects of SF and CS NPs. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained sections at .

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