ABSTRACT
Asthma is a chronic disease that weakens the airways in lungs and hinders breathing. It is a heterogeneous disease involving a range of inflammatory cells, including eosinophils, basophils, T lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes,as well as various cellular components. There is currently no cure for asthma, but treatment can help control the symptoms. Drug treatment used to control the symptoms include hydrocortisone and montelukast. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of hydrocortisone and montelukast on some white blood cell indices in asthma induced wistar rats. Methodology: 25 albino wistar rats weighing between 200-250g were divided into two groups; the Control group and Test group. The control group were subdivided into two (2) groups; control group and negative control group. The test group was further divided into 3 groups and treated with anti-asthmatic drugs; Montelukast group, Hydrocortisone group and Montelukast/Hydrocortisone group. Asthma was induced by sensitizing the rats with ovalbumin (100mg/kg intraperitoneally) on day 0,7,and 14, and was challenged with OVA (0.5% w/v absorbed in aluminium hydroxide) three times a week for four week. During the period of the challenge, test groups were treated with montelukast (2mg/kg), hydrocortisone (3mg/kg) and both montelukast and hydrocortisone (2mg/kg and 3mg/kg). On day 28, they were sacrificed by cervical dislocation method, blood was collected through the inferior vena cava and put into an (EDTA) bottle and immediately taken to the hematological laboratory of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital for white blood cell indicies. The results of this study shows that there was significant difference in neutrophil; there was a significant decrease in montelukast group, hydrocortisone group and montelukast/hydrocortisone group compare to negative control, basophil; there was a significant decrease in basophil count in negative control compare to control group, there was a significant increase in montelukast, hydrocortisone and montelukast/hydrocortisone treated groups compare to negative control and control group, eosinophil; there was a significant increase of eosinophil count in negative control group compare to control group. There was a significant decrease in montelukast, hydrocortisone, and montelukast/hydrocortisone treated group compared to negative control, monocyte; there was no significant difference among the control, negative control and montelukast treated group, there was a significant increase in hydrocortisone treated and montelukast/hydrocortisone group compare to the other groups and lymphocyte count; there was significant increase of lymphocyte count in negative control compare to control group, there was a significant decrease in montelukast, hydrocortisone and montelukast/hydrocortisone treated group compare to negative control group among the different groups. There was no statistically significant difference on white blood cell count among the different groups. This study reveals that there is a positive effect of both montelukast and hydrocortisone on white blood cell indices in asthma induced wistar rats.
