| dc.description | The cyclamate, a sweetner substance derived from N-cyclo-hexyl-sulfamic acid, is largely utilized as a non-caloric artificial edulcorant in foods and beverages as well as in the pharmaceutical industry. The objective of this study was to evaluate fetal hepatic karyometric and stereological alterations in the rat fetal liver resulting from the intraperitoneal administration of sodium cyclamate. The livers of ten rats were evaluated, five treated and five controls chosen at random, in which five rats that received from the 10th to 14th days of pregnancy an intraperitoneal daily injection of sodium cyclamate at 60 mg/Kg of body weight during 5 days. At the 20th day of gestation, the animals were removed and weighed, as were their placentas, on a precision balance; the length of the umbilical cords also were measured. After the laboratory processing, semi-seriated 6mm cuts stained with haematoxyline and eosine were performed. In seven karyometric parameters (major, minor, and medium diameters, volume, area, perimeter, and volume-area ratio), the increase was statistically significant in the treated group when compared with control group. Stereological parameters showed in the treated group a significant increase in the cytoplasmatic and cellular volume, and a significant reduction in the nucleus-cytoplasm ratio as well as in the numerical cellular density. These results showed that the sodium cyclamate in pregnant rats led to retardation of fetal development and hepatic-cellular hypertrophy in the offspring, suggesting toxicity in liver of rat fetuses | |
