Effects of a Single Pill 3-drug Combination of Lamivudine, Nevirapine and Zidovudine on Blood Parameters and Liver Histology in Female Wistar Rats

Due to the stigma associated with HIV infection, HIV infected persons in Nigeria, have been found to remove the packs of their drugs and transferring the contents into non antiretroviral drug containers especially multivitamin containers, as a result unwary individuals have stumbled on such drugs and accidentally consumed it eventually leading to a host of complains such as dizziness, vague dreams, cramps etc. We therefore decided to study the effects of a single pill 3-drug combination of Lamivudine, Nevirapine and Zidovudine on the liver histology and blood parameters in the adult female rats. The rats were divided into two groups of 5 animals per group: one group received drug at a dose of 1.85mg/100g BW dissolved in normal saline while the control group received normal saline 0.5ml/100g BW for three weeks. From our observation we discovered that there was an aberration in liver histology of the experimental group in that the central vein was dilated as compared to the control group and also discovered that the drug had some effect on the blood parameters, which include among other things a significant decrease in PCV and a significant increase in WBC. The enlargement of the central vein of the liver observed in this study may be due to the presence of Nevirapine in the drug regimen and this may be of serious implication on liver function.