ULTRASTRUCTURAL STUDY OF THE HYPOTHALAMUS IN MICE CHRONICALLY TREATED WITH MANGANESE Estudio ultraestructural del hipotálamo de ratones tratados crónicamente con manganeso

Manganese (Mn) is an essential metal that is an integral part of some metalloproteins and acts as a cofactor of several en-zymes. Mn is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and enter the nervous system. It has a low toxicity but exposure to high concentrations or for prolonged periods of time produce neuro-logical disorders in humans that initially cause hallucinations and compulsive behaviour followed by stiffness, muscle weak-ness, ataxia, memory loss and a tremor resembling Parkin-son’s disease. This study assessed the ultrastructural altera-tions produced in the hypothalamus of male albino mice in-jected intraperitoneally with MnCl2 (5 mg Mn/Kg/day) and a control group injected with NaCl 0.9 % (0.1 mL) daily for 9 weeks. The animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The hypothalamus was extracted and subsequently processe