Sub-acute oral toxicity study of aqueous extract of tobacco leaves (Nicotiana tabacum L.) on lipid profile, the tissue, and serum of the liver and kidney of male Wistar rats.

CONTEXT: Tobacco consumption may pose a very serious threat to the physiological state of the body; yet, fewer records have been documented in that regard. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the impact of aqueous extract of tobacco leaves on the lipid profile, the tissue, and serum levels of the liver and kidney of male Wister rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats (n = 52; weight = 33 - 47 g; ∼ 2½ weeks old) were acclimatised for 7 days and administered aqueous extract of tobacco leaves at 100, 200, 400, 0 mg/kg of body weight (to group A, B, C, D) for 30 days. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the kidney tissue and serum (i.e., urea and creatinine) were not influenced, in contrast, indices of the liver such as AST, ALT, and ALP, dose-dependently increased. Changes such as coagulative necrosis resulted in the infiltration of mononuclear inflammatory cells and the vacuolar degeneration of the liver. Beside the reduction in the high-density lipoprotein of the rats, there was an increase in the concentration of triglycerides, very low-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and the total cholesterol. CONCLUSION: Thus, extract of tobacco leaves can greatly influence the body lipid profile, beside the serum and tissues of the liver.