Bromazepam is one of the most commonly misused benzodiazepines across the globe. The activity of some biochemical parameters in serum of adult male wistar rats administered with bromazepam (Lexotan) was assessed. Sixty (60) wistar rats were used for this study. The rats were divided into five groups (A-E) containing twelve (12) animals. Group A served as control and received only distilled water while groups B-E served as the test groups and received 0.0016mg/kg, 0.0026mg/kg, 0.0036mg/kg and 0.0046mg/kg body weight of bromazepam respectively. The drug was administered orally for a period of four (4) weeks. Blood and liver samples were collected weekly and used for the estimation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) and histopathology respectively using standard procedures. The result showed significant (p<0.05) difference increase in these parameters in the test groups when compared to the control. However, there was no significant difference (p> 0.05) in prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the test groups when compared to the control. Histopathological observation of the liver revealed no pathological alteration for the test groups in weeks 1 and 2 while mild pathological alteration was observed for weeks 3 and 4 when compared to control. From this study, it can be deduced that long time administration of bromazepam did not alter serum activity of PSA. However, prolong exposure to bromazepam may result to hepatotoxicity.
Keywords
Bromazepam, lexotan, activity, serum, drug, misused