Dyslipidemic Prospective of Levonorgestrel in the Selected Central Compartments of the Liver, Kidney and Heart

Levonorgestrel, a dedicated emergency contraceptive, is prone to abuse by women of reproductive age group. We evaluated the modulatory effects of varying and repeated doses of the drug on lipid profiles in female rats. Twenty adult female Wistar rats were randomized into four groups. The normal and positive control groups received 0.2 ml/kg normal saline at 48-hour interval and 0.004 mg/kg oral levonorgestrel once at one (1) week interval respectively. While the 2 test groups, received 0.004 mg/kg and 0.008 mg/kg/ oral levonorgestrel at 48-hour interval six (6) weeks. The 48-hour exposure interval was designed to simulate abuse use of levonorgestrel (0.004 mg/kg) at both regular and high (0.008 mg/kg) doses. Levonorgestrel increased significantly hepatic, renal and cardiac total cholesterol irrespective of the administered regimen. Furthermore, there was significant increase in hepatic and cardiac phospholipids but reduced cardiac triglycerides in the test groups. We concluded that frequent use of oral levonorgestrel alters lipid profiles in a murine model.

Key Words: dyslipidemia, levonorgestrel, phospholipids, total cholesterol, triglycerides