Effects of ciprofloxacin on foetal hepatocytes

ABSTRACT

To evaluate the hepatotoxic risk of Ciprofloxacin administration during gestation on Wistar albino rat foetuses. An animal study carried on experimental pregnant female Wistar albino rats and their foetuses in the department of Anatomy, Basic Medical Sciences Institute, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi. Ciprofloxacin was administered to pregnant Wistar albino rats at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight intraperitoneally [twice the therapeutic dose] from day-8 to day-18 of gestation. The intact rat foetuses were isolated on day-18 of gestation. These animals were killed by deep ether anaesthesia. Liver removed, weighed and fixed in 10% formalin, embedded in paraplast, 3 micro m thick sections were cut on rotary microtome, and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. The histomorphological features of liver were compared with those of control animals and analyzed statistically. The study revealed that prenatal Ciprofloxacin produced degenerative changes in liver of foetuses. The results strongly suggest that Ciprofloxacin, given during pregnancy, causes severe liver damage in foetuses of Wistar albino rats