Intestinal Fluid and Glucose Transport in Albino Wistar Rats Following Long Term Administration of Nevirapine

Abstract

Long term administration of nevirapine causes functional derangement of various tissues. This study was therefore carried out to determine the effect of long term administration of nevirapine on intestinal fluid and glucose absorption in albino Wistar rats using the everted sac technique. Twenty albino Wistar rats (both sexes) were divided into two groups of ten rats per group. The first group served as the control and was fed with normal rat chow while the second group was fed nevirapine (0.4 mg/kg body weight) by gavage once daily for 2 weeks after which the dosage was doubled by administering the drug twice daily for 12 weeks. Villus height and crypt depth were measured. The gut fluid uptake (jejunum/ileum) in nevirapine-treated rats were significantly lower (p<0.001) when compared to control; gut glucose uptake (jejunum/ileum) were significantly lower (p<0.001and p<0.05) in the nevirapine-treated group of rats when compared to control. The villus height (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) in the nevirapine-treated group was significantly lower (p<0.01, p<0.01, p<0.001) as compared to control group. The crypt depth (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) in the nevirapine-treated group was significantly lower (p<0.001, p<0.01, p<0.01) when compared to control. These results suggest that long term administration of nevirapine may lead to distortion in villus morphology with a concomitant mal-absorption of fluid and glucose in rats.