Análise morfométrica e expressão do transportador de glicose 1 (GLUT-1) no intestino fetal em um modelo experimental de insuficiência placentária associada ao uso da estimulação elétrica nervosa transcutânea (TENS)

Abstract

Placental insufficiency is an important complication during pregnancy, which can lead to the involvement of different fetal organs, including the intestine. Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), a therapeutic resource used in physiotherapy due to its analgesic effects, has been associated with increased blood flow in several organs, but its effects on tissue perfusion are not yet fully understood. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impacts of the restriction of uterine blood flow on the fetal intestine and the effects of TENS in this context. Females of the species Rattus norvegicus albinus were submitted to ligation of the right uterine artery on the 15th day of pregnancy; the contralateral uterine horn was used as a control. The TENS sessions were performed once a day, lasting 30 minutes, from the immediate postoperative period until the 19th pregnancy when the rats were anesthetized with sodium thiopental (40 mg / kg, ip), and euthanized with lethal potassium chloride. The fetuses of these matrices were included in the study, according to the distribution of the groups: LE (n = 6) - ligation with stimulus; CE (n = 6) - control with stimulus; LS (n = 6) - ligation without stimulus and CS (n = 6) control without stimulus. After histological processing and staining with hematoxylin and eosin, the fetal intestine was morphometrically analyzed for the diameter of the intestinal loops, villus height, total thickness of the intestinal wall, and thickness of the muscle layer and lamina propria. The intestinal vessels identified in the serous layer were measured for their caliber. Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1) expression was evaluated after immunohistochemistry. The results revealed an increase in the thickness of the lamina propria and in the caliber of the serous vessels in the groups submitted to TENS, suggesting a vasodilating effect of the electrical stimulus in the fetal intestine.