Implicações do uso da Prednisona em marcadores metabólicos e imunológicos de ratos Wistar submetidos a exposição contínua de estresse em gaiola metabólica

Abstract

Corticosteroids comprise a class of hormones that have diverse systemic effects. Prednisone is a synthetic glucocorticoid that is widely used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, but it is also widely prescribed for less complex inflammation, which may have adverse effects that contradict its use. Environmental stress and the effects of cortisol along with the use of prednisone have repercussions on the entire metabolism, cellular and humoral immune system. For these reasons, it is necessary to better understand the changes that the environmental stress factor such as the metabolic cage can cause, combined with the immunosuppression caused by the drug. For this, 14 male Wistar rats, from the Laboratory of Systems Physiology and Reproductive Toxicology (FisioTox), housed in a box (n=7, BP) or metabolic cage (n=7 MCP) were used. The animals were treated with prednisone (5 mg/kg) for 28 days. Differential and total leukocyte counts at the beginning and end of treatment, body weight, food and water consumption, glycemia, obtained weekly and urinary flow, creatinine clearance, serum and urinary creatinine obtained at the end of the study were evaluated, where the rats were anesthetized and killed by decapitation, the organs were surgically collected to obtain the relative weight, as well as the blood to obtain the serum for biochemical analyses. Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation, and were considered statistical when p < 0.05. The leukocyte Count showed an increase in the segmented of the MCP group compared to the beginning and end of the treatment and a reduction of this same cell type in the MCP group compared to BP. Body weight in the GP group increased on day 28 compared to day 0, and on day 28 compared to day 7. Water consumption increased on day 14 compared to day 7. The blood glucose showed an increase in the CP group on days 7, 14 and 28 compared to day 0, and in the MCP at days 7 and 28 had an increase compared to day 0. There were no statistical differences in relative organ weights, IgG and IgM, clearance of creatinine, total proteins and albumin, highlighting that the last two showed higher values found in the literature Therefore, it is concluded that the environmental stress interfered in the metabolic and immunological parameters, suggesting that the environment must be taken into account in experiments with animals.