Comparative Study on the Protective Effect of Zinc Nanoparticle and Zinc Supplement on Carbamazepine Induced Reproductive Damage in Male Albino Rats

Aim: The aim of this study is to compare the protective effect of zinc nanoparticle and zinc supplement against carbamazepine induced reproductive changes in male Albino rats.

Study Design: In this experiment, 60 Male albino rats were used which are divided into six groups of 10 rats each. The first group was used as the control for the experiment and they were given distilled water. The second Group, Group 2 were administered with 20 mg/kg body weight of carbamazepine, group 3 were administered with 20 mg/kg of carbamazepine plus 10 mg/kg of zinc nanoparticle and Group 4 were administered with 20 mg/kg of carbamazepine plus 10 mg/kg of zinc supplement while group 5 were administered with 10 mg/kg of zinc nanoparticle and also group 6 were administered with 10 mg/kg of zinc supplement only.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biochemistry, Bells University of technology, Ota, Ogun State Nigeria, the research was carried out from February to June, 2018.

Methodology: Zinc nanoparticle extraction was carried out to obtained Zinc nanoparticle. A 60 male albino rats with weight ranging from 140 g - 230 g were used. They were fed with normal rat chow and were allowed to acclimatize for a period of two weeks. They were then divided into six groups according to their body weight which contained the test groups and the control group. The rats were sacrificed after two weeks of test administration. They were allowed an overnight fast (24 hours). The cervical dislocation was done, and the blood was collected from the heart, in to a lithium heparinized bottle. The testes of the rats were also collected and stored in a sample bottle containing buffer and stored, the liver, kidney and the brain were collected too. The rats liver and testes were weight and macerated in 5 times the volume of the actual organ weight using homogenate buffer (phosphate buffer). The resulting homogenate was centrifuge at 10000 rmp speed for 15 mins then it was removed from the centrifuge and the supernatant was decanted and stored below 4°C.

Result: The group administered with carbamazepine only show significant decreased in the level of follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and testosterone when compared with control group, followed by the group administered with zinc nanoparticle only. However, group 6 and group 4 that were administered with zinc supplement and zinc supplement plus carbamazepine showed a significant increase in the level of these hormones when compared with control group, while group 6 which were administered with carbamazepine and zinc nanoparticle showed no significant different when compared with control group. In addition carbamazepine alone significantly increased the level of alanine transaminase (ALT) in the liver and also the group administered with zinc nanoparticle alone significantly increased the level of aspartate transaminase (AST) with decrease in the level of ALT. However, the groups administered with zinc supplement alone and in combination with carbamazepine reduced ALT and AST levels in the liver.

Conclusion: Therefore, this study suggest that, carbamazepine induced toxicity by affecting the level of sex hormones and activities of the kidney in the male albino rats, and also zinc nanoparticle have more protective effect than zinc supplement against carbamazepine toxicity.