Effects of Opium Addiction on Some Biochemical Factors in Diabetic Rats

BACKGROUND: The present study was carried out aiming to investigate the effects of opium on some biochemical factors in diabetic and non-diabetic male and female rats. METHODS: This experimental study was carried out on 28 male and 28 female Wistar rats. The animals were divided into diabetic addicted (DA), diabetic non-addicted (DNA), non-diabetic addicted (NDA), and non-diabetic non-addicted (NDNA) groups of male and female. A double dose of opium was intraperitoneally administered to the addicted groups. Peripheral blood samples were collected to measure the creatinine, uric acid, cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), total protein, and albumin levels. Three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the mean levels of biofactors among the study groups. FINDINGS: Cholesterol and total protein were significantly affected by opium and sex, but not diabetes condition, such that there was a decrease of cholesterol and total protein levels in opium-addicted rats compared to non-opium-addicted ones. However, uric acid, TG, albumin, and creatinine were not affected by opium and diabetes conditions. CONCLUSION: Opium significantly decreased cholesterol and total protein levels. It could be deduced that the effects of opium on cholesterol and total protein are not sex-dependent, moreover, opium consumption may not have significant effects on biochemical factors in diabetic conditions.