Verapamil ameliorates sleep deprivation-induced hepatotoxicity in mice

Abstract

<p><strong>Background</strong>: Sleep deprivation has drastically increased among varying populations with current sleep polls showing that people are sleeping for fewer hours compared to a century ago. Existing literature have shown that sleep deprivation induces multi-organ injuries through oxidative stress. In view of this, present research was designed to investigate potential benefit of verapamil against liver dysfunction induced by paradoxical sleep deprivation in mice.</p><p><strong>Methods</strong>: Thirty adult male Albino Swiss mice were divided into 5 groups, each consisted of six mice: group 1 was considered the vehicle group; group 2 was considered the model control which was sleep-deprived. Group 3 and 4 received verapamil (25 and 50 mg/kg; PO) and group 5 was given Astaxanthin (50 mg/kg; PO) in addition to being sleep-deprived. Samples of the liver were subjected to histopathological examinations after the restricted times (72 hours sleep deprivation). Serum biochemical parameters and relative weights of some organs were also assessed. One-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls tests were used for statistical evaluation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results showed that mice subjected to only sleep deprivation showed signs of liver injury indicated by: increased activity of liver enzymes, alteration of lipid profile parameters as well as an increase in pro-oxidants and a reduction in antioxidant biomarkers. However, verapamil caused a reduction in hepatocytes degeneration and delayed the occurrence of oxidative stress.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The present findings suggest that treatment with verapamil significantly reversed sleep deprivation-induced hepatic dysfunctions via its antioxidant mechanism.</p>