Gender-related Histological Changes in the Thymus Gland After Pinealectomy and Short-term Melatonin Treatment in Rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pinealectomy and melatonin treatment on the rat thymus gland characteristics, taking into consideration possible gender differences. Thirty adult Wistar rats of both sexes were divided into three groups. Group C and group PX served as control groups and included sham-pinealectomized and pinealectomized animals that were treated with 10% ethanol solution (0,1ml/daily, subcutaneous). Animals from third group (group PXM) underwent pinealectomy and seven days after surgery started receiving melatonin dissolved in 10% ethanol solution (3mg/kg/daily, subcutaneous). All animals were treated for 4 weeks. Volume density of the thymus cortex showed statistically significant (p