Table 3.
Qualitative and quantitative parameters describing the changes observed during histopathology of thyroid glands of the investigated rats (see Section 2.2. for the explanation of the groups’ acronyms).
| Parameters | C | KS | ID | KS/ID | SDM | KS/SDM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Papillary formation [%] | 0% | 0% | 0% | 25% | 60% | 80% |
| Aggregates of lymphocytes [%] | 0% | 25% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Vacuolization of the colloid [%] | 0% | 0% | 40% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Shape of epithelial cells [flatted vs. cuboidal] [%] | 100% flatted |
60% cuboidal |
60% cuboidal |
50% cuboidal |
100% cuboidal |
100% cuboidal |
| Follicular epithelial area [mm2] | 1.57 ± 0.14 ab | 1.77 ± 0.86 c | 3.06 ± 0.71 | 1.59 ± 0.82 d | 4.37 ± 1.03 bcd | 3.57 ± 1.68 a |
| Follicular luminal area [mm2] | 0.32 ± 0.06 a | 0.38 ± 0.14 | 0.69 ± 0.24 ab | 0.41 ± 0.20 | 0.41 ± 018 | 0.22 ± 0.06 b |
| Overall thyroid area [mm2] | 1.79 ± 0.25 a | 2.24 ± 0.80 | 3.50 ± 1.13 | 1.97 ± 1.00 b | 4.64 ± 1.40 ab | 3.79 ± 1.72 |
[%] of animals in which the changes were observed. Results marked with the same letters within each row differ significantly (p < 0.05).