AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY REGARDING THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF MINERAL WATER FROM SPRING 3 IN BĂILE TUŞNAD ON SOME ORGANS AFTER ETHYL ALCOHOL ADMINISTRATION

• Main Authors: Gabriela Dogaru, Marieta Motricală, Molnár Ákos, Vasile Rus
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Romanian Association of Balneology, Editura Balneara 2016-02-01
• Series: Balneo Research Journal
• Subjects: carbonated mineral water; optical microscopy; liver; experimental studies
• Online Access: http://bioclima.ro/balneo116.pdf
• ISSN: 2069-7597; 2069-7619

Hepatobiliary and renal disorders are currently on the increase, being favored by increasing environmental pollution, alcohol consumption and synthesis drugs. Mineral water from spring 3 in Băile Tuşnad, with a total mineralization of 3351.0 mg/l, is recommended in chronic liver, gallbladder, pancreas diseases, kidney diseases and stones. This study aimed to assess potential changes in the liver, kidney, pancreas and stomach following ethyl alcohol administration in rats, as well as to monitor anatomopathological differences between animals that drank tap water and those that drank Tușnad mineral water, after cessation of ethyl alcohol administration. The study was carried out on 25 white Wistar rats over a period of 100 days. The animals were divided into 3 groups: group I, negative control group – 5 animals; group II, positive control group – 6 animals; group III, experimental group – 14 animals. The animals of group I received tap water (50-75 ml/day/animal) throughout the experiment, and those of groups II and III were administered ethyl alcohol 12% (12-15 ml/day/animal) during the first 70 days. During the last 30 days of the experiment, the animals of group II received tap water (50-75 ml/day/animal), and those of group III were administered Tuşnad mineral water (50-75 ml/day/animal). On experimental day 70, 5 animals were euthanized (2 of group I, 1 of group II and 2 of group III), and on day 100, the rest of 20 animals were euthanized. Fragments in the form of 4 mm thick slices from the liver, kidneys, pancreas and stomach of the euthanized animals were collected for histological investigations. The only changes detectable by optical microscopy were present in the liver. The rest of the studied organs did not show lesion aspects detectable by optical microscopy. The structural changes found in the liver were represented by mild to moderate fibrosis around the centrilobular venule in about 50% of the lobules. In the outer third of the lobules with centrilobular venular fibrosis, lipid hepatosis aspects were present. The degree of liver involvement in group II animals both on day 70 and on day 100 of the experiment was comparable to that of group III animals on experimental day 70. On experimental day 100, the degree of liver involvement in group III animals was lower compared to day 70, supporting the fact that mineral water from spring 3 in Baile Tuşnad potentiated the regenerative capacity of the liver.