Kidney Function and Structure, Oxidative Stress and Immunohistochemical Expression of Gerbillus gerbillus from Two Different Habitats in Egypt

Ghalwash, Mohamed M.; Salem, Mahmoud M.; Younes, Mahmoud I.

doi:10.21608/eajbsz.2022.222379

Kidney Function and Structure, Oxidative Stress and Immunohistochemical Expression of Gerbillus gerbillus from Two Different Habitats in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo,

² Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/eajbsz.2022.222379

Abstract

Mammals from arid habitats have greater relative medullary thickness and maximum urine concentration as compared with those from mesic habitats. The Egyptian lesser gerbil, Gerbillus gerbillus (Olivier, 1801), inhabits coastal dunes of white nummulitic limestone sand in the Western Mediterranean coastal belt. In Faiyum it inhabits sandy patches in cultivated areas, palm groves and sandy areas of semi-desert supporting grasses. The present study used a total of 27 (14 from North Coast region and 13 from Faiyum region) live specimens of G. gerbillus. The results showed that the gerbils from North Coast have kidneys that are more efficient than those that live in Faiyum region. Although the glomerular diameter and volume in the gerbils' kidney from Faiyum region were larger than those from North Coast region unless the glomerular number and relative medullary thickness (RMT) in gerbils' kidney from North Coast region were greater than those from Faiyum region. The whole medullary thickness was 1.11 (mm) for gerbils from North Coast region and 1.05 (mm) for Faiyum region. The RMT was 2.31±0.25 for gerbils from North Coast region and 1.92±0.23 for Faiyum region. The gerbils from North Coast region showed a significant increase in the values of the kidney reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) whereas the gerbils' kidney from Faiyum region showed a significant increase in the malondialdehyde (MDA) values only. The gerbils from North Coast region showed weak anti-apoptotic protein expression of the Bcl-2 and weak immunohistochemical expressions of the p53 in kidney tissues. The gerbils from Faiyum region showed strong anti-apoptotic protein expression of the Bcl-2 and showed moderate immunohistochemical expressions of the p53 in kidney tissues.

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