Introduction: Diabetes had harmful effects on different tissues of the body, oral mucosa one of them. The purpose of the study was to estimate the effect of epidermal growth factor on oral keratinocytes of diabetic albino rats (Ultrastructure evaluation).
Materials and Methods: Select 18 adult male albino rats which divided into three groups. Group I (control rats group) received no drugs. Rats received only normal saline. (6 rats), while group II (diabetic rats group) received a single dose of alloxan) ALX monohydrate, Sigma Aldrich pharmaceutical company) intraperitoneal injection and without any treatment. (6 rats). Moreover, rats of group III diabetic rats treated with EGF at the dose of 1.25 μg of EGF (sigma)\kg. (Intra peritoneal injection) (Using an insulin injector, a 1.25 microgram/kg dose of EGF containing the saline solution (6 rats) for 2 months. Buccal mucosa was dissected from all rats and processed for transmission electron microscopy evaluation.
Results: Ultra-structural examination by (TEM) of group I showed normal histological features of the epithelium of buccal mucosa that consist of flattened granular cell layer with flat nuclei revealed electron dense keratohyline granules, which covered by cornified (keratin) layer. Ultrastructural examination (TEM) of buccal mucosa specimens of group II (diabetic G) revealed there was atrophy of epithelial cell layers and loss of its normal arrangement. The overlying layer of keratin appeared in wavy and irregular pattern. Ultrastructural examination (TEM) of buccal mucosa specimens of group III showed slight similarity with histological features of the control rats.
Conclusion: The structural alterations detected in this study confirmed the harmful effects of diabetes showed in oral keratinocytes of buccal mucosa. EGF cause relatively improvement of the damaged epithelium.