Comparison of effects of high and low doseparacetamol treatment and toxicity on brain and liver in rats

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Paracetamol is thought that it acts by inhibiting the central cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme; its mechanism of action is still not fully explained. Although its most important side effect is hepatoxicity, it is thought to cause toxicity on the brain in recent years. The present study aims to investigate the treatment and toxic effects of low and high doses of paracetamol on the liver and brain.METHODS: Wistar-albino rats were used in this study. At doses of 20–500 mg/kg, paracetamol was administered intraperitoneally once a day for one and three days. The brain and liver were used for immunohistochemical evaluation using COX-3, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and caspase 3 antibodies and for total antioxidant (TAS), total oxidant (TOS) and oxidative stress index (OSI) measurements. Results were evaluated using the Kruskal Wallis test (SPSS ver.24).RESULTS: The liver COX-3 levels were significantly lower in both groups with higher doses (p0.05). The caspase 3 level in the liver was statistically significantly higher in the low dose group compared to the other groups (p