Ethylene glycol (EG), the raw material of polyethylenterephthalate, which is the most consumed plastic in the world, has low toxicity, but its metabolites are toxic. EG metabolites can cause acidosis, fibrosis, and eventually cirrhosis in the liver. This study aimed to investigate the effect of EG on rat liver and to determine the quantitative values of the disintegration of reticular fibers (RF) in the liver with the dose duration and to investigate the changes by digital image analysis (DIA). For this purpose, Wistar albino rats were divided into control, and five different daily experimental groups. The control group received saline, and the experimental groups received EG. At the end of experiments, liver tissues of all euthanized rats were removed, and sections were taken, and RF was shown by silver staining. It was observed that the RF fragments in the experimental groups were less than the control group. DIA of RF fragments was then performed with Olympus cellSensDimension 1.15 software and number, area, and ROI% values of the fragments were determined. Statistical analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between control and all experimental groups. RF fragments showed first‐order disintegration kinetics, mean disintegration rate constant, and half‐time values were 0.1 day⁻¹ and 7 days, respectively. Consequently, the digital image analysis approach can be a useful tool for the biologist, pathologist, fibrosis‐cirrhosis specialist, and computer scientist to understand the effects of toxic chemicals in the liver and analyze reticular fiber disintegration.

中文翻译：

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乙二醇诱导的大鼠肝组织中网状纤维分解动力学的数字图像分析研究

乙二醇（EG）是世界上消耗量最大的塑料聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯的原料，其毒性低，但其代谢产物有毒。EG 代谢物可导致肝酸中毒、纤维化，并最终导致肝硬化。本研究旨在研究 EG 对大鼠肝脏的影响，并确定肝脏中网状纤维 (RF) 分解随剂量持续时间的定量值，并通过数字图像分析 (DIA) 研究其变化。为此，将 Wistar 白化大鼠分为对照组和五个不同的每日实验组。对照组接受生理盐水，实验组接受EG。实验结束时，取出所有安乐死大鼠的肝组织，取切片，银染显示RF。观察到实验组的RF片段少于对照组。然后使用 Olympus cellSensDimension 1.15 软件对 RF 碎片进行 DIA 并确定碎片的数量、面积和 ROI% 值。统计分析表明，对照组和所有实验组之间存在显着差异。RF 片段显示一级崩解动力学，平均崩解速率常数，半衰期值为 0.1 天分别为^-1天和 7 天。因此，数字图像分析方法可以成为生物学家、病理学家、纤维化-肝硬化专家和计算机科学家了解肝脏中有毒化学物质的影响并分析网状纤维分解的有用工具。