Histomorphology and Vascular Lesions in Dorsal Rat Skin Used as Injection Sites for a Subcutaneous Toxicity Study

Subcutaneous injection of pharmaceutical compounds into the dorsal skin of rats is common in preclinical and nonclinical studies. However, no detailed histologic description of this anatomic location has been published to date. Following the observation of vascular lesions in the dorsum of rats in a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Toxicologic pathology 2010-02, Vol.38 (2), p.258-266
Main Authors: Wells, Monique Y., Voute, Hélène, Bellingard, Valérie, Fisch, Cécile, Boulifard, Virginie, George, Catherine, Picaut, Philippe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Animals
Back
Biological and medical sciences
Blood Vessels - pathology
Female
Injections, Subcutaneous
Male
Medical sciences
Needlestick Injuries - pathology
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Sex Factors
Skin - blood supply
Skin - injuries
Skin - pathology
Toxicity Tests
Toxicology
Tunica Intima - pathology
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Summary:Subcutaneous injection of pharmaceutical compounds into the dorsal skin of rats is common in preclinical and nonclinical studies. However, no detailed histologic description of this anatomic location has been published to date. Following the observation of vascular lesions in the dorsum of rats in a thirteen-week toxicity study, a complementary study was performed on untreated Sprague-Dawley rats to evaluate the normal histology of the skin and subcutis, the potential effect of chronic subcutaneous injection on the morphology of the skin and its vasculature, and the spontaneous vascular pathology in the areas used as injection sites in the principal study. This study showed that saline injection did not fundamentally alter the morphology of the injection sites used for the principal study. Skin thickness was greater in males than in females. Although acellular intimal thickening occurred spontaneously in the dorsal skin of untreated males and females, only males had a spontaneous incidence of intimal hyperplasia. No site predilection for intimal lesions was apparent for either sex. Saline injection, or the physical trauma of injection, may induce intimal hyperplasia; males appear more likely to develop the lesion than do females. It is possible that acellular intimal thickening can progress to intimal hyperplasia under appropriate conditions.
ISSN:0192-6233
1533-1601
DOI:10.1177/0192623309357953