Publication Details
Abstract
The detoxifying and cardioprotective potential of olive oil against ethanol-induced cardiac injury was evaluated in white outbred rats during postnatal development. A total of 153 rats aged 3, 6, 9 and 12 months were divided into control, ethanol-intoxicated (40% ethyl alcohol, 7.0 g/kg, 30 days, intragastrically) and olive-oil-corrected (2 ml/kg, 30 days) groups. Organometric, morphometric, histological (haematoxylin–eosin, Van Gieson, Alcian blue), immunohistochemical (BCL2) and echocardiographic methods were applied. Olive oil partially restored the thickness of all heart-chamber wall layers, normalized the heart-mass and heart-volume indices and returned the conical heart shape that had disappeared under ethanol. Immunohistochemically, BCL2 expression in left-ventricular cardiomyocytes increased from 30% in the ethanol group to 40% after correction, indicating reduced apoptosis. Echocardiography showed that the ejection volume rose from 37.93±0.70% (ethanol) to 40.93±0.96%, approaching the control value (43.87±0.44%). The corrective effect was age-dependent and most pronounced in the early postnatal periods.