The use of the argyrophilic (Ag) staining technique for nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) revealed nuclear changes in myocytes of the left atrium of 10 rats treated twice a week for 6 weeks with doxorubicin (1 mg/kg body weight) iv and sacrificed after 6 weeks without treatment. The changes were easily detected qualitatively and further assessed by quantification. Cardiac myocytes of doxorubicin-treated rats had larger nuclei and/or a larger quantity of AgNORs that were either dispersed in a number of small dots or clustered in rounded, rod-shaped, or tortuous large structures. AgNOR alterations may reflect a defect of nucleolar association leading to an impairment of protein synthesis that could be involved in doxorubicin cardiotoxicity.
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