Introduction: Oral problems are among the common diabetes induced complications. Cod liver oil (CLO) is a rich source of polyunsaturated fatty acids that was found to provide a better control of glucose and lipid metabolism.
Aim: to study the histological changes of streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes on rat's tongue and evaluate the possible protective role of CLO.
Material and methods: Thirty-six adult male albino rats, aging 4-6 months and weighting 180-200 gm, were used in this study. Animals were divided into three equal groups. Group I: was equally subdivided into three subgroups; subgroup IA: kept as negative control, subgroup IB: received single intraperitoneal injection of citrate buffer and Subgroup IC: received CLO by gastric tube daily for 12 weeks. Group II: received single intraperitoneal injection of STZ to induce diabetes. Group III: diabetes was induced as group II then rats were given CLO daily by gastric tube for 12 weeks. At the end of the experiment for each group, animals were anesthetized and tongues were dissected out and processed for light and scanning electron microscopic examination and immunohistochemical studies.
Results: The present study revealed that diabetes induced marked irregularities, flattening and hyperkeratosis of tongue papillae in addition to distortion of the muscle layer. Group III revealed evident improvement of these changes.
Conclusion: Obvious diabetes induced changes of tongue histoarchitecture were detected. However, CLO exerted a marked protective role against these changes. Thus, it could be a promising protector against diabetes induced tongue hazards.