LOW DOSES OF PRISTANE IN COMPARISON WITH HIGH DOSES IN INDUCTION OF ARTHRITIS IN FEMALE SPRAGUE DAWLEY RATS

OBJECTIVE: To compare the severity of arthritis induced by low and high doses of pristane in female Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS: The study was conducted in Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lahore. Twenty-four female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three equal groups each consisting of 8 rats (n=8); group A served as healthy control, group B was given 150μl pristane and group C was given 500μl pristane intra-dermally in order to induce arthritis. The severity of arthritis was evaluated by total leukocyte count (TLC), neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, clinical score of arthritis and body weight. TLC, neutrophil and lymphocyte count was taken at day 0 and 15 while clinical score of arthritis and body weight were taken at day 0 and then on every alternate day till day 30. RESULTS: Development of arthritis in both groups B and C was accompanied by rise in TLC, neutrophil count and clinical score of inflammation while lymphocyte count and body weight was decreased in both groups as compared to group A (p 0.001). In group A the clinical score of inflammation was zero throughout the study period. The score of group B and C, which was initially zero at day 0, increased to 12±1 and 16±1 respectively at day 15. The difference was found to be significant at day 15 when group B and C were compared with group A (p 0.001). The difference between group B and C was also significant (p 0.001). CONCLUSION: Evaluation of results supported severe induction of arthritis with 500μl pristane than 150μl.