Publication:

Verapamil ameliorates sleep deprivation-induced hepatotoxicity in mice

Background Sleep deprivation has drastically increased among varying populations with current sleep polls showing that people are sleeping for fewer hours compared to a century ago. Existing literature have shown that sleep deprivation induces multi-organ injuries through oxidative stress. In view of this, present research was designed to investigate potential benefit of verapamil against liver dysfunction induced by paradoxical sleep deprivation in mice.

Methods Thirty adult male Albino Swiss mice were divided into 5 groups, each consisted of six mice: group 1 was considered the vehicle group; group 2 was considered the model control which was sleep-deprived. Group 3 and 4 received verapamil (25 and 50 mg/kg; PO) and group 5 was given Astaxanthin (50 mg/kg; PO) in addition to being sleep-deprived. Samples of the liver were subjected to histopathological examinations after the restricted times (72 hours sleep deprivation). Serum biochemical parameters and relative weights of some organs were also assessed. One-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls tests were used for statistical evaluation.

Results The results showed that mice subjected to only sleep deprivation showed signs of liver injury indicated by: increased activity of liver enzymes, alteration of lipid profile parameters as well as an increase in pro-oxidants and a reduction in antioxidant biomarkers. However, verapamil caused a reduction in hepatocytes degeneration and delayed the occurrence of oxidative stress.

Conclusions The present findings suggest that treatment with verapamil significantly reversed sleep deprivation-induced hepatic dysfunctions via its antioxidant mechanism.