Abstract
BACKGROUND: Apoptosis is a physiological mechanism of cell death and it can be triggered by a variety of internal and external stimuli. It has been indicated that some opium derivatives develop cell apoptosis. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of opium addiction on ovary cell apoptosis in diabetic and non-diabetic Wistar rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This experimental study was done on control, control-addicted, diabetic and diabetic-addicted rats. DNA fragmentation as a biomarker of apoptosis was determined by the TUNEL assay. RESULTS: The blood glucose concentration in diabetic-addicted and diabetic rats was increased when compared to control (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between weights of control, control-addicted (non-diabetic) and diabetic-addicted groups during this study. The results of this study indicated that apoptosis in addicted and diabetic-addicted ovary cells was significantly higher than in diabetic group, and also apoptosis in addicted group was significantly more than the control rats. In addition, we found that ovary cells apoptosis of diabetic rats were significantly less than in control group. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these findings suggest that opium-addiction could play an important role in ovary cell apoptosis and could be very harmful for the reproductive system. Also, ovary cells of non-diabetic rats are more susceptible to opium-induced apoptosis than those of diabetic.