Biochemical, Histological And Histochemical Studies On The Effect Of Sodium Barbital On The Renal Tissue Of Albino Mice

Abstract

Introduction:Anaesthetic drugs are nowadays used on a large scale in surgical operations as well as in other various medical purposes. Sodium barbital is a derivative of barbituric acid and is widely used on short surgical operations and other various medication. However, such anaesthetic drug has been reported to evoke many serious alterations as a result of its application. Materials and Methods:The experimental animals (30 mice-weighing 25-30 g) were divided into 3 groups (10/group), the first group served as a control group (i.e. injection with saline), while the other two groups were treated daily with the therapeutic dose of 60 mg/kg.b.wt sodium barbital (i.p.) for 7 days (short-term group) and 21 days (long-term group) as repeated daily doses. Blood sera and kidney samples were collected for physiological, histological and histochemical studies. Results:The results obtained showed a significant increase in urea, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid and creatinine levels in all treated groups. On the other hand serum total protein and albumin levels showed a significant decrease in both treated groups, while the globulin showed a significant decrease only in the long term group. The applied dose of sodium barbital caused histophathological alterations in the renal tissue mainly in the cortex such as damage and shrinkage of the Malpighian corpuscles, cloudy swelling and necrosis of the cells of the proximal convoluted tubules. Also, distal convoluted tubules exhibited degenerated features. In the histochemical studies, polysaccharides were progressively reduced in both short and long- term groups, while the total proteins showed a reduction in the short term group and considerably increase in the long term group. Conclusion: So these results came to conclusion that barbiturates should be prohibited and carefully used specially when prescribed as tranquilizer.