Abstract
Objective: Systemic decongestants, topical decongestants, and topical corticosteroids have been used in treatment of upper respiratory tract diseases. We proposed to find out histopathological changes caused by these drugs in therapeutic dosages in rat nasal mucosa, so we tried to compare the effects of pseudoephedrine, xylometazoline, and budesonide.
Method: The rats in the first group took 80 microL of liquid pseudoephedrine for 15 days twice daily. 10 microL of xylometazoline was administered to rats in the second group for 10 days. 10 microL of budesonide was administered to the third group for 21 days.
Results: The whole slides were evaluated histopathologically under 400X microscopic magnification. The evaluation parameters were mucosal edema level, the loss of ciliated epithelium, intraepithelial gland proliferation, vascular changes, and the changes in epithelial thickness. In any group, a significant mucosal edema was detected. In the second group (xylometazoline), ciliated epithelium loss and goblet cell proliferation were detected in posterior nasal slides. In the third group (budesonide), partial fibrosis was detected in some slides. In the first group (pseudoephedrine), statistically significant epithelial thinning was detected.
Conclusion: We concluded that xylometazoline causes ciliary epithelium loss and goblet cell proliferation. This change probably is due to preservatives in this medication. The budesonide, the topical corticosteroid, caused no significant side effect, especially ciliated epithelium loss. We could not assess the effect of budesonide in inflammation.
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