DO THE IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUGS AFFECT THE HYPOTHALAMIC NUCLEI INVOLVED IN THE REGULATION OF FOOD INTAKE? AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY.

Purpose: Immunosuppressive drugs are essential for reducing the rejection risk in post-transplant patients, which is commonly associated with this procedure. However, side effects of those drugs on the hypothalamic nuclei involved in the food intake regulation, excessive weight gain, and also associated comorbidities are still unknown. The purpose of this study was to analyze possible changes in the neuronal morphology and cell density in the paraventricular nuclei, lateral hypothalamic area, dorsomedial nuclei, and ventromedial and arcuate nuclei in Wistar rats submitted to immunosuppressive treatment with tacrolimus (TAC) or mycophenolate mofetil (MMF).

Methods: Adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to the following groups according to the oral treatment administered for 14 weeks: control, sham (placebo), TAC (1 mg/kg of weight), and MMF (30 mg/kg of weight). After treatment, the animals were sacrificed and their brains fixed for later histological staining. Subsequently, the slides were photodocumented for stereological analysis of the hypothalamic nuclei.

Results: All experimental groups showed a weight gain throughout the study. There was no significant difference in neuronal density/number of cells in the hypothalamic nuclei between groups. Morphological changes were not detected in the hypothalamic neurons.

Conclusion: Treatments with immunosuppressants could not modify the morphological and cell density aspects of the hypothalamic nuclei during this supplementation period.