Background: It was aimed to investigate the effects of experimental diabetes on TGF beta1 expression and tunica intima and media thickness in abdominal and thoracic aorta.
Methods: Fourteen three months old female rats were divided into two groups, non-diabetic and streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic group. Hematoxylin-Eosin and Verhoeff's Van Gieson elastic staining and TGF beta1 immunohistochemistry staining were performed. Abdominal and thoracic intima and media thickness of aortas were measured with the oculometer.
Results: Evaluation of intima and media thickness measurements showed no significant statistical differences between non-diabetic and diabetic groups. TGF beta1 expression increased significantly in thoracic diabetic (TD) group.
Conclusion: The 60 day duration of diabetes is not sufficiently enough time for the development of pathological changes that could lead to thickening in aortic intima-media layers. TGF beta1 expression was negative in the abdominal aorta that can predispose to the development of atherosclerosis, which could develop overtime. This finding may be interpreted as an appropriate basis for the development of atherosclerosis. In the thoracic aorta TGF beta1 may coordinate cellular events such as tissue repair (Fig. 5, Ref. 23).