Study on Antidotal Therapy of Vitamins in Paraquat Induced Dyslipidemia in Rats

Paraquat (PQ) is a toxic chemical substance used in farming for weed management. It is an herbicide with harmful effect when exposed to animals. This study aimed at assessing the effect of vitamin E and C on fasting lipid profile in paraquat induced toxicity in rats. The experimental study consisted of 180 rats divided equally into 4 groups (A, B, C and D) with each group having 3 subgroups of 15 rats (0, VE and VEC). A group served as the control group while B, C, D were test groups. B0, C0 and D0 were treated with 0.02g, 0.04g and 0.06g of paraquat respectively twice in two weeks for 3 months. A0 had no treatment. BVE, CVE and DVE were similarly treated in increasing doses of paraquat and in addition were treated with 500mg of vitamin E once every week for 3 months. AVE had only vitamin E treatment. BVEC, CVEC and DVEC were similarly treated in increasing doses of paraquat and in addition were treated with both 500mg of vitamin E and 2000mg/dl of vitamin C once every week for 3 months. AVEC had only vitamin E and vitamin C treatments. All treatments were done orally. B0, C0 and D0 subgroups were sacrificed and sample collected via cardiac puncture for fasting lipid profile (FLP) after 3 months of paraquat treatment. A0 was also sacrificed too alongside. Other subgroups; AVE, AVEC, BVE, BVEC, CVE, CVEC, DVE and DVEC were sacrificed and sample analyzed for FLP on monthly basis for 3 months. The results showed that paraquat caused a significant drop in FLP levels from the second month after paraquat treatment and this was ameliorated by the treatment of vitamin E and C treatment. This study has therefore demonstrated that vitamins could restore lipid disorder initiated by paraquat poisoning in rats.