Histochemical aspects and fine structural characteristics of thyreocytes in pinealectomized and melatonin treated rats prior to irradiation.

The authors were investigating the histochemical and electron microscopic characteristics of thyreocytes in pinealectomized rats treated with melatonin, prior to irradiation. They observed that the animals that did not receive melatonin show a higher degree of the destruction appearing at the level of all ultrastructural organelles and a very low expression of the DNA and RNA histochemical reaction. These results suggest the role of melatonin in the determination of the thyreocyte behaviour under given irradiation conditions.