Effect of nicotine on lipid profile, peroxidation & antioxidant enzymes in female rats with restricted dietary protein.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE Nicotine intake through tobacco is very common in female population of lower socioeconomic level who are deprived of healthy diet. Women suffer consequences of smoking such as cardiovascular disorder, lung related diseases and oxidative stress, etc. No data are available of the influences of nicotine on lipid profile, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes levels under restricted dietary protein intake. The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of nicotine on such parameters of female rats fed with protein restricted diet (5% casein) as compared to those with normal protein diet (18% casein) with or without vitamin C or E supplementation. METHODS Subcutaneous injections of nicotine tartrate (3.5 mg/kg body weights per day for 15 days) were given to the rats and subsequent measurements of plasma lipid profile, plasma and ovary lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes were done. RESULTS The results showed significant (P<0.01) increase of total cholesterol (TC) and more significant (P<0.001) increase of triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) of plasma under both dietary conditions. The increase of plasma very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) was highly significant under protein-restricted diet. The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) decreased significantly in both dietary conditions. Lipid peroxidation in plasma increased significantly in protein-restricted condition. Superoxide dismutase and catalase activities in the ovary tissue decreased significantly (P<0.001) by nicotine treatment in both dietary groups. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION Our findings indicated that nicotine-induced toxicity is more in lipid profile (plasma) and lipid peroxidation (plasma and ovary tissue) under protein-restricted diet as compared to that of the normal protein diet. The antioxidant vitamins antagonized the nicotineinduced effects less effectively on the observed parameters under restricted dietary protein.