Hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity following long-term prenatal exposure of paracetamol in the neonatal rat: is betaine protective?

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Abstract Background Paracetamol is one of the widely used antipyretic and analgesic drug around the world. Many researchers showed that paracetamol caused to hepatotoxicity or nephrotoxicity. Objective In the present study, we aimed to determine whether betaine has protective effects on hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in neonate rats, following to long term maternal paracetamol exposure. Materials and methods Randomly chosen neonates, from the neonate pools, were divided into three groups; Control (n=13), APAP (n=13), and APAP+Betaine (n=13). Physiological saline, paracetamol (30 mg/kg/day), and paracetamol (30 mg/kg/day)+betaine (800 mg/kg/day) were orally administered to the relevant groups during the pregnancy period (approximately 21 day). Following to the birth, neonates were decapitated under anaesthesia and tissue samples were taken for biochemical and histological analyses. Results The statistical analysis showed that, malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels increase significantly in APAP group, while paraoxonase, arylesterase activity and glutathione levels decrease. After the betaine administration, glutathione levels, paraoxonase and arylesterase activities increased while malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels decreased in APAP+betaine group. These biochemical findings also were supported by histological results. Conclusion In this study, our biochemical and histological findings indicate that betaine can protect the tissue injury caused by paracetamol.