Protective Effect of Antioxidants against Rifampicin Induced Haematopoietic Suppression.

Abstract

Rifampicin is an effective first line drug in the management of tuberculosis. It has been documented to have some toxic effects in humans. Thus, this study intends to investigate the modulatory effects of Vitamins C and E on the haematopoietic suppression caused by Rifampicin. A total of 40 Wister albino rats of 10 animals per group were used. Group 1 animals were administered 0.3ml of distilled water, Group 2 received therapeutic dose of rifampicin, Group 3 animals were given therapeutic doses of rifampicin plus vitamin E, while Group 4 received therapeutic doses of rifampicin plus vitamin C. The administration was done orally for three months and the animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation at the end of the administration. The blood of the animals was collected and the haematological parameters were analysed using fully automated clinical haematology analyzer. The results showed Rifampicin to significantly (p<0.05) decrease the white blood cells (WBC) from 15.13±0.50 to 7.03±1.19. It had no significant effect on the red blood cells (RBC), haemoglobin (HGB) and haematocrit (HCT) levels. The co-administration of vitamin E with Rifampicin significantly (p<0.05) attenuated the decrease in WBC. While the results obtained from the co-administration of Rifampicin and vitamin C showed significant (p<0.05) increase in RBC compared with control and Rifampicin administered alone . It can be concluded that Vitamin E and C modulate the toxic effect of Rifampicin on the hematopoietic cell.

KEY WORDS: Rifampicin, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, WBC, RBC, HGB