Effect of morphine and stadol on lipid content in liver of rat.

The effects of repeated accumulative increasing doses (5, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg body weight) of morphine and stadol on lipid content have been studied in liver of rat. The results obtained indicate that significant increases were recorded in hepatic triglycerides (TG) content after 1 and 12 hrs of morphine treatment while non-significant increases were recorded after stadol administration. After 36 hrs of treatment with either of the two drugs, the liver TG content was decreased which may indicate that drug tolerance might have developed. The phospholipids content showed increases especially after 12 hrs of morphine or stadol administration. The results obtained suggest enhanced phospholipid synthesis under the action of both drugs. Highly significant increases occurred in cholesterol content after 1, 12 and 24 hrs of treatment of both drugs. This might reflect the occurrence of decreased catabolism and turnover of cholesterol during the experiment. Total lipids content of liver showed marked and highly significant increases after 12 hrs of morphine and after 12 and 24 hrs of stadol administration respectively. The data obtained suggest that morphine and stadol may be hepatotoxic to rats.