Histomorphological effect of Lamivudine on the Cerebellum of Wistar rats

Abstract

Lamivudine is an anti-retroviral drug used for the treatment of HIV and hepatitis B. It is one of the essential medicines needed in a basic health system. This study was carried out to investigate the detrimental effect of lamivudine on the cerebellum based on the adverse effects of gait disorders manifested by patients using lamivudine. Twenty male Wistar rats divided into two groups of ten rats each were used for the study. Control group A was administered with 1ml of distilled water, while treatment group B was treated with 4.28mg/kg of lamivudine daily for 30 days. On the 30 th day, the rats were euthanized and each cerebellum was harvested immediately. The cerebella were put through routine tissue processing for H/E staining and GFAP immunohistochemical method. The resulting specimens were mounted with DPX and viewed under the light microscope at ×400. Photomicrographs showed shrunken Purkinje cells and distorted granular layer in the cerebellum of group B rats while those of group A rats were healthy. Also, image J counting showed reduced number of cells in the lamivudine group. This correlated with the higher staining intensity for GFAP in the granular layer of group B rats suggesting cellular inflammation and damage. More research is needed to ascertain the molecular mechanism of these distortions.

Neurocognitive and Neuroarchitectural Changes in the Prefrontal Cortex of Wistar Rats Treated with Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

“…Tenofovir and lamivudine treated groups produced significant distortion of the cortical histomorphology. These results are in tandem with Ferrer and Rakhmanina (2013) who reported peripheral neuropathy in mice treated with tenofovir and the study of Peter et al (2017) who reported shrunken Purkinje cells and distorted granular layer in the cerebellum of rats treated with lamivudine. Several studies highlighting the detrimental effects that antiretroviral drugs have on neural structures are often through mechanisms involving oxidative stress.…”

Brain antioxidants and hippocampal microanatomical alterations following the administration of Efavirenz/Lamivudine/Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and Lamivudine/Nevirapine/Zidovudine in adult male Wistar rats

“…Highly active antiretroviral therapy is used for management of HIV/AIDS, and the devastating effect of HIV required infected individual to use HAART for the management of the virus, especially in Africa where HIV is predominant ( World Health Organization, 2021 , Joint United National Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), 2021 ). Many studies ( Peter and Udoh, 2015 , Peter et al, 2017 , Lawal et al, 2021 ) have mentioned that antiretrovirals drugs are neurotoxic and can lead to various neurologic diseases including memory impairment and cognitive disorder ( Dong et al, 2021 ).…”

Role of aqueous extract of saffron in ameliorating effect of sofosbuvir on the cerebellar cortex in rat

“…Cerebellum could be considered particularly vulnerable to different antivirals. A previous study suggested that the administration of lamivudine, an antiviral drug used in treatment of HIV and hepatitis B viruses, lead to an evident cerebellar degeneration (Peter, Udoh, & Ekanem, 2017).…”