The problem of drug addiction is a growing concern among specialists in various fields. Drug abuse provokes not only physical and mental addiction, but has also a negative effect on the physiological parameters of the body. The development of drug addiction in women is much faster than in men, and the significant structural, morphological and functional changes of the genital organs raise the burning issue of reproductive health worldwide. The considerable use of drugs in clinical practice without sufficient experimental research has necessitated a detailed study of the effect of opioids on the structural organization of organs. The purpose of the study was to establish and describe ultrastructural features of the cervix muscular layer in white lab rats within a norm and at the 2nd, 4th, and 6th weeks of nalbuphine exposure. Material and methods. The research was performed on 24 sexually mature white female rats 3.0–3.5 months old with the initial body weight of 160–180 g. The experimental animals were divided into 3 groups, each group of animals was administered intramuscularly nalbuphine daily during 2, 4, and 6 weeks. The control group included 9 female rats, which got injected with 0.9 % NaCl solution throughout the experiment. The research was performed with the help of electron microscopy. The sections were prepared on a UMTP–6M ultramicrotome using a diamond knife (DIATOM). The sections were examined with a TEM–100 transmission electron microscope. Photographs were taken with a digital camera SONY–H9. Results and discussion. Excessive and uncontrolled administration of opioids has a negative impact on the female body. Eriksson and Ray's research shows that morphine intake during pregnancy leads to delayed growth, weight loss, and early abortion. A number of studies have described the effects of various opioids on the myometrium of pregnant female rats, with impaired uterine muscle contractility. Maryam Dehghan et al in an experiment in mice showed that morphine causes deformation and destruction of the nuclear membrane of epithelial cells of the endometrium at the ultrastructural level, observed the distance between nuclei and heterochromatin, which was not observed in the control groups. Similar ultrastructural changes of muscle tissue were observed in the study of the effect of nalbuphine on cardiomyocytes, where an electron-microscopic examination revealed expansion of the intercellular space, destroyed mitochondria, mosaic damage of cardiomyocytes, chromatic dislocation. Conclusion. Chronic exposure to nalbuphine causes significant ultrastructural changes in the cervix. Even in the early stages of the experiment (2 weeks) it was possible to trace the disorders that were the consequences of the introduction of the opioid into the body of the experimental animal. Each subsequent phase of the experiment revealed deepening changes in the structure of the muscle cells. The resulting damage showed the ability of the long-term use of the opioid to cause irreversible changes in structure and function at all levels, starting from ultrastructural.
Keywords: nalbufin, electron microscopy, cervix, muscle layer
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