OBESITY

Objective: To study the effects of atorvastatin administration on serum IL-6,WBC and platelet count in obese male and female animal models. Study Design: Randomizedcontrol trial (RCT). Place and duration of study: The study was conducted at Department ofPhysiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi in collaboration with National Institute of Health(NIH), Islamabad and Centre for Research in Experimental and Applied Medicine (CREAM),Army Medical College, Rawalpindi for funding, blood sampling and biochemical assaysrespectively. Material and Methods: Ninety healthy male and female Sprague Dawley ratswere selected and randomly divided into three equal groups. Group I rats were fed normal dietfor a period of three weeks. Group II rats were fed high fat diet for a period of three weeks toinduce obesity. Group III rats were administered atorvastatin 10 mg/kg/day orally by gavagemethod for three weeks after obesity induction. Terminal sampling by intra-cardiac puncturewas done at the end of study. Whole blood was used to perform blood complete picture by KX21 Sysmex Hematology Analyzer which includes platelet count and WBC count and serum wasused to measure IL-6 levels by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA). Results: Therewas a significant decrease (p 0.05) affected by atorvastatin administration. Conclusions: Althoughatorvastatin reduces obesity related inflammation by decreasing serum IL-6 levels and WBCcount, it has no effect on platelet count in male and female obese animal models.