Zidovudine therapy: Effect(s) on histology of the kidney of wister rats

This study investigated the histo-morphological effect(s) of Zidovudine therapy on the kidney of Wister rats. Fifteen Wistar rats obtained from the Animal house of the College of Medicine, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria, were used for this study. A three week period of acclimatisation was allowed. They were subsequently weighed and randomly stratified into a control (A; n=5) and two treatment groups - B (low dose; n=5) and C (high dose; n=5). Groups B and C received varied doses of Zidovudine (6mg/kg and 12mg/kg respectively). After the completion of a 21 day treatment exercise, renal tissues were harvested from each of thegroups and taken for histo-morphologic analysis The results showed significant body weight reduction in the treatment groups as compared to the control (p<0.05) with mild to moderate derangement in the kidney sections of group B (high dose). It can be concluded therefore, thatwhile low doses of zidovudine can reduce body weight of the animals with no obvious deleterious effects, higher dose however, has capacity to induce histomorphologic alterations in renal tissues of rats.Key words: ARV drug, Renal parameters, Body weight, Kidney, Zidovudin