Effect of combined administration of caffeine and nicotione on the liver structure: experimental study in rats [small letters]

ABSTRACT

This study used sixty-five adult male rats, they were divided into four groups. The first group included twenty rats; fifteen of them were given intraperitoneal injection of caffeine [100 mg/Kg body weight/day], while the other five rats were injected with an equivalent amount of saline only. The second group included also twenty rats; fifteen of them were given nicotine intraperitoneally[2 mg/kg body weight/day], while the other five rats were injected with an equivalent amount of saline only. The third group included also twenty rats; fifteen of them were given both caffeine and nicotine intraperitoneally at the same doses as above, while the other five rats were injected with equivalent amount of saline only. The fourth group included five rats that were served as a negative control. The rats of all groups were sacrificed after four weeks, liver specimens were taken and processed for both light and electron microscopic examination. Variable morphological changes were observed in the livers of caffeine and nicotine-treated rats. These changes were in the form of fatty degeneration, vacuolar appearance and inflammatory cellular infiltration, depletion of glycogen content, hemorrhagic lesions and sometimes pyknotic cells; such effects were more severe than when each drug was given singly