Pathological changes in the cellular structures of retina and choroidea in the early stages of alloxan-induced diabetes

Table 1 Level of glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin in the blood of experimental animals (mmol/L)

Biochemical parameters	Control animals (Group 1)	Diabetes, 30 d (2nd group)	Diabetes, 60 d (2nd group)
Glucose (mmol/L)	5.99 ± 0.33	25.98 ± 1.84a	32.60 ± 0.80a
Hb A1с (%)	5.12 ± 0.24	7.10 ± 0.60a	6.45 ± 0.29a
Insulin (μg/L)	1.28 ± 0.19	0.47 ± 0.05a	0.36 ± 0.04a

^aDifferences to control animals were significant at P < 0.05.

Table 2 Characteristics of the thickness of the retina and its individual layers (μm, M ± m)

Group	Retinal layers						Total thickness of the retina
	Layer rods and cones	Outer nuclear layer	Outer plexiform layer	Inner nuclear layer	Inner plexiform layer	Ganglion cell layer
Control (group 1)	36.31 ± 5.11	56.43 ± 1.72	9.85 ± 1.68	25.82 ± 0.76	38.93 ± 4.79	17.82 ± 0.72	185.16 ± 9.42
Diabetes at 30 d (group 2)	28.65 ± 3.44a	51.62 ± 6.51a	11.46 ± 1.59	26.1 ± 1.55	40.21 ± 7.14	15.98 ± 1.37a	174.00 ± 2.93a
Diabetes at 60 d (group 3)	28.38 ± 1.43a	56.87 ± 5.30	9.69 ± 1.04c	26.24 ± 0.95a	39.94 ± 7.10	14.65 ± 2.05a	175.77 ± 5.22a

^aDifferences compared to control animals were significant at P < 0.05;

^cDifferences compared to animals with diabetes at 30 d were significant at P < 0.05.

Table 3 Average number of blood vessels and pigment cells in the choroid of the eyes of experimental animals (per unit area, S = 0.01 mm²)

	Control (group 1)	Diabetes at 30 d (group 2)	Diabetes at 60 d (group 3)
No. of blood vessels	2.62 ± 0.33	1.79 ± 0.07a	1.59 ± 0.22a
No. of pigment cells	35.23 ± 5.69	20.5 ± 0.39a	10.1 ± 2.42a

^aDifferences compared to control animals were significant at P < 0.05.

Table 4 Number of Ki-67 positive cells in the layers of the retina (M ± m)

Group	Layers of the retina
	Inner nuclear layer			Ganglion cell layer
	1000 at 1 mm2		% of Ki-67 positive cells	1000 at 1 mm2		% of Ki-67 positive cells
	All cells	Ki-67 positive cells		All cells	Ki-67 positive cells
Control (group 1)	28.60 ± 2.11	7.25 ± 0.93	25.46 ± 3.53	7.71 ± 1.01	0.99 ± 0.3	12.98 ± 3.24
Diabetes at 30 d (group 2)	27.94 ± 1.14	4.92 ± 0.92a	17.82 ± 3.79a	5.45 ± 0.78a	0.42 ± 0.18a	7.83 ± 3.11a
Diabetes at 60 d (group 3)	29.24 ± 2.56	4.55 ± 1.5a	15.4 ± 4.76a	6.19 ± 0.79a	0.59 ± 0.3a	9.95 ± 5.12

^aDifferences compared to control animals were significant at P < 0.05.

Table 5 Quantitative distribution of macrophages in the eyes based on the structures (M ± m / 1 mm²)

Structure of the eye		Control (group 1)	Diabetes at 30 d (group 2)	Diabetes at 60 d (group 3)
Choroidea		4.16 ± 3.31	4.99 ± 2.84	14.4 ± 6.69a,c
Retina	Ganglionic layer	18.46 ± 2.66	9.42 ± 1.00a	16.25 ± 5.30c
	Inner nuclear layer	11.25 ± 3.71	6.6 ± 2.59a	7.87 ± 1.71a

^aDifferences compared to control animals were significant at P < 0.05;

^cDifferences compared to animals with diabetes at 30 d were significant at P < 0.05.