Tobacco Induced Renal Function Alterations in Wistar Rats: An 8 Weeks Study

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of tobacco snuff on renal function using Wistar rat as a model. It involved adult rats (n=42) weighing 150-300g. They were assigned into a control group (A; n=6) and test groups B (n=12), C (n=12) and D (n=12). The groups were further divided into subgroups (1, 2, 3 and 4) representing durations of 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks respectively. The test groups were fed varying doses of tobacco snuff  (tobacco plus potash).  At  the  end of every 2 weeks, three  randomly  selected rats were prepared for blood sample collection into lithium  heparin containers for laboratory analysis of creatinine, urea and uric acid. Results showed that creatinine levels of the  testrats were higher than the control, but the recorded values were however, duration dependent. Interestingly, a similar but irregular pattern was observed for urea and uric acid levels. Over all, the significant increase (P<0.05) in renal function parameters of the test rats (as compared to the control values), suggests that the ingestion of tobacco snuff has harmful effects on kidney functions.

Keywords: Tobacco, Snuff, Kidney function, Nicotine substitute.