Objective: In this study, it was aimed that age-related morphological changes in rat esophagus and stomach was investigated with light microscopy.

Materials and Methods: In this study, 21 female Sprage-Dawley rats were used. Rats were divided into three groups as follows. Group1:21 days old, Group2:2 month old and Group3:19 month old. At the end of the examination esophagus and stomach tissues were removed.The sections stained wiht hematoxylin-eosin and evaluated light microscopically.

Results: The mean thickness of esophagus epithelium was measured. It was 31.85±5.7 μm in Group1, 40.95±6.7 μm in Group2 and 44.68±9.2 μm in Group3. The mean thickness of tunica muscularis in esophagus measured. It was 128.9±23.1 μm in Group 1, 207.8±38,5 μm in Group2 and 256.07±35.52 in Group3. We observed that the thickness of esophagus epithelium and tunica muscularis were significantly increased by age in all groups (p<0.05). Likewise, the mean thickness of tunica mucosa in stomach was measured. It was 67.87±8.25 μm in Group1, 127.76±21.8 μm in Group2 and 181.23±35.1 μm in Group3. The mean thickness of tunika muscularis in stomach was measured. It was 56.65±15.9 μm in Group1, 125.68±21.36μm in Group2, 174.07±22.5 μm in Group3. We observed that the thickness of tunica mucosa and tunica muscularis were significantly increased by age in all groups (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The morfology of esophagus and stomach in rats were observed to change with increasing age. We believe that obtained in this study as age-related changes in rat esophagus and stomach may shed light on other morphological studies and that will contribute to the literature.