Mehrdad Roghani - Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran
Mohammad Taghi Joghataie - Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences and University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation (USWR), Tehran
Mohammad Reza Jalali Nadoushan - Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran
Tourandokht Baluchnejadmojarad - Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran.

Background and Objective: Although diabetes mellitus is known to be one of the risk factors for dementia but neuropathic changes in the brain of diabetic patients have not been completelyrevealed. Therefore, this research study was done to evaluate structural changes in pyramidal neurons of hippocampal CA1 area of male diabetic rats using Golgi-impregnation method. Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control and diabeticgroups. For induction of diabetes, streptozotocin (STZ) was injected (i.p.) at a single dose of 60 mg/kg. At the end of 1st and 2nd months, rats were transcardially perfused and Golgi-impregnationmethod was used to evaluate the changes of dendritic spines in CA1 area.Results: It was found out that there was a significant reduction in mean density of pyramidal neuron dendritic spines after 1 and 2 months in diabetic group as compared to age-matched controls (p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively). Conclusion: Taken together, there is a time-dependent pattern in diabetes-induced modification of dendritic architecture in CA1 area that itself is strongly involved in some aspects of learning and cognitive processes.

CA1, Pyramidal neuron, Golgi staining, Diabetes mellitus, Rat