BIOCHEMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON CERTAIN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS (NAPROXEN & TENOXICAM) IN ALBINO RATS

Abstract

Anti-inflammatory drugs are on a large scale commonly used for the treatment of arthritic diseases. Mostly the use of these drugs cause certain side effects. This works was conducted in order to investigate the hazard effect of two non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs (naproxen and tenoxicam). The experiment was carried out through oral administration of naproxen (50 mg/kg b.wt.) or tenoxicam (2 mg/kg b.wt.) to male adult albino rats for four weeks. Clinical symptoms and mortality rates were recorded throughout the experiment. At the end of the experiment animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Blood was collected for haematological studies and glutathione determination. Histopathological examination was carried out in liver, kidney, lung, testes and brain tissues. The results are summarized as follows: (A) Effects of naproxen : 1- Naproxen induced 25 % mortality. 2- The main clinical symptoms were weakness, loss of appetite, dizziness and abdominal cramp. 3- Naproxen caused an elevation in the activity of AST, ALT, ALP, bilirubin (total and indirect) and creatinine during the four weeks. 4- Urea and uric acid increased following the second, third and fourth weeks. 5- Glucose level reduced following the first and second weeks and return to the normal level after the third and fourth weeks.