Abstract
Introduction. Each year, the problem of drug abuse increases with catastrophic consequences. It is not just physical and mental dependence, drugs affect physiological parameters, while changes caused by them can continue even after drugs are no longer consumed. If we estimate types of drugs people take, we see that opioids occupy the first place - 65.5%. Since susceptibility to addiction is higher in the female body than that of a male, and female genital organs undergo significant structural-morphological and functional changes, the study of the opioid effect on the female body is necessary. Vessels are among the first in our body to react to pathogenic factors; their structural changes become the basis for the development of a pathological process and determine peculiarities of clinical manifestations.
Aim. To detect qualitative and quantitative changes of the hemomicrocirculatory channel of the uterus walls in white rats during the 6-week opioid influence.
Materials and methods. The study was performed on 24 sexually mature female white rats with an initial body weight of 160-180 g. All animals were divided into three experimental and one control group. The control group received 0.9% NaCl solution throughout the experiment. The other three groups received intramuscular injections of nalbuphine for 2, 4, and 6 weeks respectively. Colored gelatin mixture was used for injection in the bloodstream. The following morphometric indices were used to assess and analyze the depth of structural changes: vessel diameters (arterioles, venules and capillaries), arteriolar-venular ratio, the indicator of trophic activity (radius of diffusion), the density of the net of capillaries (the number of capillaries per area unit), the coefficient of convolutedness.
Results. The conducted research has shown that the administered drug causes changes in the structure of the hemomicrocirculatory channel already in the 2nd week of the experiment, which is manifested by the expansion of vessels, both arterioles, venules, and capillaries, increasing their convulsion while maintaining the clarity of vessel contours. In the 4th week, there are areas of restructuring of the uterus blood flow, the convulsion of vessels increases, in some cases, it is possible to detect areas of hemorrhage and obliteration of capillaries, unevenness of blood vessel caliber. In the 6th week, due to the destruction of the capillary component, the ordered spiral pattern of the capillary net is disrupted, artery and venular anastomosis begin expanding and significant destructive changes develop. Statistically processed morphometric indices confirm the validity of above morphological changes, which appear in the structure of the bloodstream of rat's uterus wall.
Conclusion. Study results reveal the relationship between the duration of opioid effect on the structural organization of the uterus walls, namely on their vascular component, and the depth of damage, namely, significant changes in the structure of the hemomicrocirculatory channel.