EVALUATING THE HISTOPATHOLOGICAL EFFECT OF AMLODIPINE AND VALSARTAN ON PIOGLITAZONETREATED STREPTOZOTOCIN-INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

Two striking factors for cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, are diabetes and hypertension. More so, there is a significant overlap in the aetiology and progression of hypertension and diabetes, and there are documented findings that drugs used in the management of either disease conditions can act as a friend or foe in the treatment outcome of the other. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the co-administration of valsartan and amlodipine on the histological features of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats treated with pioglitazone. Albino rats weighing 205 ± 45 g (mean ± SEM) were prevented from eating and drinking overnight while diabetes mellitus was induced by administering 40 mg/kg of streptozotocin intraperitoneally. Blood samples were taken 48-hour post induction. Animals were considered diabetic if their blood sugar level was≥ 200 mg/dl. The animals were grouped into control rats without treatment, untreated diabetic rats, and treatment groups, pioglitazone only, valsartan plus pioglitazone, and amlodipine plus pioglitazone. After 3 weeks of treatment, the animals were humanely sacrificed while the brain, lung, heart, kidney, and liver were harvested for histopathological analysis. Stained tissues were viewed by means of an optical photomicroscope at 100 x magnification. From the histological study, our findings suggest that valsartan enhanced the hypoglycemic effect of pioglitazone-treated diabetic rats compared to those treated with pioglitazone alone and those treated with amlodipine and pioglitazone combination. Keywords: Antidiabetic, Histopathology, Amlodipine, Valsartan, Pioglitazone