Investigation of the effects of diclofenac sodium in rat ovary on the number of preantral follicles by stereological methods in prenatal period

INTRODUCTION: Pregnancy is a period in which maximum amount of attention is required for healthy future generations. In this period, choice, duration and dosage of medication as well as the changing physiology of the mother should be taken into account. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a group of drugs that have analgesic, anti-pyretic and anti-inflammatory effects. This group of drugs can be used in the treatment of the ongoing rheumatic diseases or which occur during the pregnancy period and the complications that occur due to pregnancy. We aimed to show how it affects the number of over preantral follicles of newborn fetus on rats by using Diclofenac Sodium which belongs to this drug family group.
METHODS: Diclofenac Sodium (1 mg / kg, IM) was injected for 15 days from the 5th day of pregnancy to pregnant rats in Diclofenac Sodium group and saline (1 ml / kg, IM) was injected to the pregnant rats of the sham group at the same time period. In the 4th week after birth, ovarian tissue preparates of rat pups were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and ovarian total tissue volumes and preantral follicle counts were evaluated under light microscope.
RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between groups for ovarium total tissue volumes and preantral follicle numbers (p>0.05). Lowest value of follicular intensity was observed in Diclofenac sodium group among study groups however no statistically important difference was found (p>0.05).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Results obtained in our study may be related with administration of drug in not use high dose (1mg/kg). Further studies may be performed with higher doses.