Abstract:
The study assessed the effect of selected antiretroviral drugs used in the management of
HIV/AIDS on the oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde (as TBARs) and the antioxidant
enzyme, Catalase, of the liver and kidney tissues of healthy albino rats. 0.43, 0.43, 0.27, and
0.21mg/kg of Efavirenz, Abacavir, SNP 40 and Lamivudine respectively, were orally
administered to four different groups of albino rats for seven days. The control group received
normal saline. On the eighth day, the rats were sacrificed and the liver and kidney tissues were
collected for Lipid peroxidation and Catalase activity analysis. Efavirenz and Lamivudine caused
significant decrease (P<0.05) in lipid peroxidation in the liver while the reverse was obtained for
Abacavir and SNP 40. SNP 40 caused a significant decrease (P<0.05) in lipid peroxidation in the
kidney while the other drugs did not result in a significant change (p>0.05) compared to the control. All the drugs caused significant increase (P<0.05) in Catalase activity in the liver and a
significant decrease (P<0.05) in Catalase activity in the kidney. Taken together, the present
observation suggests that the effects of antiretroviral drugs on oxidative stress markers (such as
MDA) and on antioxidant enzymes (such as catalase) in healthy as well as in HIV infected
humans (by way of extrapolation) may vary from drug to drug and from organ to organ. We
therefore advocate for extensive clinical research to investigate the influence of antiretroviral
drugs on antioxidants enzymes in HIV and HIV/AIDS patients.
