THE IMPACT OF PERINDOPRIL ON SERUM SEROTONIN LEVELS IN A WHITE LABORATORY RAT WITH STREPTOZOTOCIN INDUCED DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY

Majlinda Ademi

Abstract

Extensive clinical trials of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) as antihypertensive drugs have provided numerous examples of enigmatic experiences in improving hypertension in diabetic nephropathy (DN).This study aimed to determine the effect of ACEi, perindopril on serum serotonin levels in Wistar rats with streptozotocin (STZ)-inducedDN. In this study, 50 normotensive white laboratory rats of both sexes were selected, aged 9 to 11 weeks with an approximately equal body weight of 200 to 300 grams. The rats were kept in 2 cages, and were fed standard laboratory rat food and water ad libitum. Serum serotonin levels were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method in 2 experimental groups: a DN control group and a DN + perindopril group. Perindopril (6 mg / kg / day) was administered orally daily for 8 weeks, starting after 4 weeks of STZ administration, while the control group received saline only. After the treatment, all rats were anesthetized deeply with sodium thiopenthal (50 mg/kg) and their whole brains were immediately removed from the skulls (usually within 1,5 min) on an ice chilled glass plate and stored at -80°C until further analysis. At the end of treatment, the rats were sacrificed and serotonin levels were taken. The results show that in both groups, blockade of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) with perindopril significantly reduced serum serotonin levels. The results were processed using Two-Way Factorial ANOVA for Independent Samples. The statistical package SPSS 11 was used.

Pages: 31 - 36