Oxicological effects of artemether-nevirapine coadministration on serum biochemistry and some organs of Wistar rats

Abstract

This study investigated toxicological effects of 5 and/or 10 mg/kg artemether (ART5 or ART10) and nevirapine (NVP) co-administration on serum biochemistry and some organs of Wistar rats. Drugs were administered intraperitoneally to 6 groups (n=6) for 21 days. On day 22, rats were sacrificed, sera obtained to determine electrolyte and antioxidant levels. Liver, kidney, lung and spleen were harvested and weighed for histological studies. Data analysed using oneway ANOVA, Dunnett’s post-hoc test and were considered significant at p≤0.05. There was no difference in superoxide, catalase, Na+ , K+ , Ca2+ and HCO3- levels in the treated groups. Cl- decreased (p≤0.05) in NVP + T80 and NVP + ART10 administered groups. MDA increased (p≤0.05) in NVP + ART10 group while GPx decreased. No pathological changes were observed in the liver of all treated groups but relative weight increased (p≤0.05) in NVPART10 treated group. The kidney of NVP-ART5 and NVP-ART10 treated groups did not differ in relative weight but showed some renal necrosis. The spleen and lung of ART10 treated group showed some pathological changes. The changes in relative liver weight, kidney tissue, Cl-, MDA and GPx levels of ART-NVP administered rats suggest the need for precautionary measures during drug treatment combination.
 Keywords: Artemether; Nevirapine; Toxicology; Liver; Kidney; Spleen; Lung, Biochemical parameters