Effects of Valproic Acid Administration on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Male Albino Rats

Background: Valproic acid (VPA) is an antiepileptic drug with a well-documented hepatotoxic effect among other several side effects. However, the effect of valproic acid administration on lipid profile and cardiovascular risk factors remains inconclusive and highly controversial.

Method: In order to investigate the effects of valproic acid on lipid profile, male albino rats were treated with valproic acid at a dose of 7.14 mg/kg body weight intraperitoneally for two and four weeks while a group was allowed to recover for seven days after four weeks of valproic acid administration.

Results: Administration of valproic acid induced dyslipidemia in different compartments of the animals under investigation. Hypocholesterolemia characterized the effect of valproic acid administration in the LDL+VLDL while hypertriglyceridemia was the hallmark of its effect in all blood compartments although hypertriglyceridemia effect drops significantly when rats were allowed to recover for 7 days. In the tissues, valproic acid administration did not significantly affect cholesterol and triglyceride levels but phospholipid levels in the heart and kidney were significantly decreased by 46.03% and 38.57% after 2 weeks of administration while phospholipid levels in other tissues compartment were not affected.

Conclusion: The results presented in this study are in support of the argument that valproic acid administration does not significantly affect lipid profile because the perturbations of lipid content observed are non-lipotoxic and may not pose a cardiovascular disease risk.