The effects of ketogenic and chitosan-based diets on submandibular salivary gland in rat model: a comparative histological study

TL;DR

This study compares the effects of a ketogenic diet and chitosan supplementation on rat salivary glands, finding that chitosan helps reduce damage caused by the ketogenic diet.

Contribution

The study provides a comparative histological analysis of the effects of a ketogenic diet and chitosan supplementation on rat submandibular salivary glands.

Findings

A ketogenic diet significantly increased α-SMA and Congo red staining in rat salivary glands.

Chitosan supplementation reduced the damaging effects of the ketogenic diet on salivary glands.

There was no significant difference in staining between the control and chitosan groups.

Abstract

This study was carried out in the submandibular salivary glands (SSGs) of rats to demonstrate the effect of a ketogenic diet (KD) in comparison with dietary chitosan supplementation.

Eighteen albino rats were randomly divided into three equal groups of six animals each. Rats in Group I were fed a balanced diet and considered controls. Meanwhile, those of Groups II and III were fed a KD, a balanced diet with high molecular weight chitosan, respectively. After 45 days, rats were euthanized, and the SSGs were dissected carefully for staining with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) immunohistochemical staining, and Congo red special stain. Quantitative data from α-SMA staining and Congo red staining were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons post hoc test.

Regarding Congo red and α-SMA staining, one-way ANOVA revealed a significant difference between the three groups. For α-SMA staining and Congo red staining, Group II had the highest mean values of 91.41 ± 3.30 and 68.10 ± 5.04, respectively, while Group I had the lowest values of 56.13 ± 3.96 and 16.87 ± 2.19, respectively. Group III had mean values of 60.70 ± 3.55 for α-SMA and 19.50 ± 1.78 for Congo red. Tukey’s multiple comparisons post hoc test revealed significant differences between groups I & II and between groups II & III (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, there was a nonsignificant difference between groups I and III (P > 0.05).

A KD has a deleterious effect on rats’ SSG whatever the test we used, and dietary chitosan supplementation ameliorates these damaging effects.

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