The Physiological Alterations Induced by Sibutramine Anti-Obesity Drug on the Functions of the Thyroid Gland and the Liver: An Experimental Study on Wistar Rats

The present study investigates the safety of Sibutramine anti-obesity drug on the thyroid gland functions as well as the liver functions in adult male Wistar rats. A set of animals were treated with a daily dose of (7 mg/Kg) of Sibutramine for 2 weeks (second group: G II). While, another set were treated with the same dose for 6 weeks (third group: G III), At the end of each treatment periods, the serum parameters were measured (TT3, TT4, cortisol, ALT, AST, ALP&total bilirubin). Significant increases were recorded in means of TT3 and cortisol (1.78±0.025 ng/dl and 8.39±0.53 μg/l respectively) was recorded in the third group (G III) compared to the control group (t-Test, P≤0.05 and P≤0.01 respectively). In addition, highly significant decrease was observed in TT4 (1.98 ±0.06 μg/dl) (t-Test, P≤0.01). Similarly, highly significant increases was observed in the liver enzymes (ALT, AST&alkaline phosphatase) (184.42±11.60, 263.16±16.20 & 116.28±9.54 IU/l respectively) (t-Test, P≤0.01). Also, significant increase was recorded in the total bilirubin (0.65±0.03 mg/dl) (t-Test, P≤0.05). The present study clearly showed that the long use of Sibutramine is responsible for inducing serious physiological adverse effects on the thyroid gland functions as well as on the liver functions. Therefore, it can be concluded that the long use of Sibutramine is not therapeutically safe. In addition, it is recommended at the end of this study that Sibutramine should not be prescribed at all for any patient who has a history of hormonal or liver disorders.