Histopathology of small intestine induced by cisplatin in male Wistar rats

Cisplatin, cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) is a highly effective drug used to treat several cancers. Unfortunately, it has various clinical side effects affecting many tissues. However, small intestine toxicity induced by cisplatin has been rare reports to date. This study aims to investigate the pathology of small intestine upon cisplatin treatment at various doses using histological techniques. Male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups: group 1 was intraperitoneally (IP) injected with normal saline; group 2, 3, 4 and 5 were IP injected with cisplatin at doses of 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg/kg body weight (BW), respectively. On day 3, rats were weighed and small intestines were collected. This study found that cisplatin significantly reduces BW at all concentrations compared to saline group. Histological analysis of small intestine induced by cisplatin illustrating various pathologies includes hemodynamic change (hemorrhage), reversible injuries (distortion of mucosal architecture, development of subepithelial space and lifting of epithelial layer from the lamina propria) and irreversible injuries (degenerative changes of villi, sloughing of necrotic villi into intestinal lumina and loss of villi). Additionally, cellular adaptations were also elicited including hyperplasia of lamina propria and columnar epithelium lining villi and atrophy of villi. In conclusion, cisplatin administrations lead to pathologies of small intestine, consequently causing weight loss whose severity depends on its concentrations.