Ten 4-month-old Sprague Dawley rats weighing approximately 250 g were divided into two groups of 5 animals each. Group A was the control and the animals in group B received thyroid stimulation with infrared laser in a dose of 16 J/cm2 for 15 consecutive days. Subsequently, rats were euthanized and thyroids were removed and processed for optical microscopy. From both cell types thyroid histological slides and micrographs were obtained with final increases of 400 and 1000X. Morphometric analysis determined the number, areas and cell perimeter as well as colloidal dispersion and presence of blood vessels in 100 follicular cells. Analysis of the results among the 100 follicular cells belonging to normal and stimulated thyroids revealed marked differences in all the analyzed components, which could translate into different functionalities in the metabolism of the respective glands.

KEY WORDS: Thyroid cells; Follicular cells; Morphometry; Infrared laser.

CORNEJO, R.; JARAMILLO, R.; GARRIDO, O. & VERGARA, L. Infrared laser effect on thyroid cells. Int. J. Morphol., 34(2):498- 502, 2016.