Histologic Effects of Bilateral Adrenalectomy under the Light Microscopy on Rat Mandibular Condyle

The aim of this study was to compare the histologic findings from the condyles of rats with the general system findings. 30 Sprague-Dawley adult rats were used. The rats were sacrified and their condyles and femurs were examined histologically. The rats’ weight were observed weekly, their femoral height and weight, femoral mineral elements, and their daily food and water consumes were recorded. The results were analysed statistically by using SPSS (10.0). During the histologic examination of femur, the osteogenesis and calcification of the femur layers of the male/female rats in the experimental group were found to be lower than those of the ones in the control group. In addition to that, during the histological examination of condyle the level of thickness of condyle layers, the number of cellular elements, the osteogenesis and calcification seemed to be decreased for the male/female rats in the experimental group than for those in the control group. The decrease was found to be more significant for the female rats than the male rats in experimental group and it is thought that this is related to the gonad hormones. These findings emphasize that a reduction of sex hormone levels, induced by adrenalectomy, significantly influences condylar histogenesis.