TY - JOUR ID - TI - CONTINUOUS DARKNESS INDUCES CHANGES IN THE URINARY SPACE OF THE RAT’S KIDNEY AU - Samia A. Eleiwe سامية عباس عليوي PY - 2014 VL - 12 IS - 1 SP - 60 EP - 65 JO - IRAQI JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES المجلة العراقية للعلوم الطبية SN - 16816579 22244719 AB - Background:Melatonin known as "the light of night" secreted from the pineal gland and implicated in a number of cyclical bodily performance and circadian rhythmic activities in humans. The kidney is the main organ regulating water-electrolyte homeostasis in the body adjusted to a daily rhythm.Objective:To study the effect of rising periods of continuous darkness onthe urinary space of adult male rat’s kidney.Methods:Eight groups of adult Wister albino rats, each of 4 rats were kept in absolute 24 hours darkness for successively rising 4 periods. Group II, III, IV and V were situated in continuous darkness for two, four, six and eight weeks in succession. Group Ia, Group Ib, Group Ic and Group Id were the control groups for group II, III, IV and V, respectively. All rats were dissected under general anesthesia at the end of experiment and the right kidney was removed, weighed and arranged for morphometric as well as anatomical and histological studies.Result:No imperative structural effects were noticed with the short and medium periods, but with long periods significant effects were noticed, which were in ratio to the length of darkness.Conclusion:The continuous darkness has structural influence on the glomerular urinary space in the kidney of adult male rats according to the length of exposure.Key words:Darkness, melatonin, kidney and urinary space.

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