Evaluation of the Effect of Starvation on Blood Glucose Level and Body Weight of Wistar Albino Rats

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of food deprivation on the body weight and blood glucose level of Wistar albino rats.

Methodology: Blood samples were collected from the rats through ocular puncture at intervals and were used for the analysis of blood glucose level. Standard procedures was used for the measurements, and blood glucose level was evaluated using the ONE TOUCH (™) blood glucose monitoring system/meter.

Results: According to the duration of study for both the control and experimental animals, the body weight and glucose levels of the rats were taken before and after the starvation. There was no significant increase (p>0.05) in the body weights of the test animals compared with the body weights of the animals in control group at 0 hour and 6 hours of the experiment. However, there was a significant increase (p<0.05) in the body weights of treated rats after 12 hours when compared with the control group. After 24 hours treatment, group 2 animals (animals starved of rat feed and water) had significant increase (p<0.05) in their mean body weight when compared with control. There was significant increase (p<0.05) in the rats’ body weights of group 4 treated animals (animals starved and received fruits only) compared with the control group after a period of 6 hours. There was also a significant increase (p<0.05) in the body weights of treated group 4 rats (animals starved and received fruits only) after 12 hours when compared with the control group. For 48 hours treatment, no significant difference (p>0.05) in body weight was observed. The glucose concentration increased significantly (p<0.05) in group 3 test animals administered water after starvation compared with the control animals at the 0 hour duration of the study. There was significant decrease (p<0.05) in the glucose concentration of animals (group 4) fed fruit after starvation compared with the animals (group 3) administered water after starvation at 0 hour of the experiment. However, the glucose concentrations of the animals in group 2 (starved of feed and water) and group 4 (starved + fruit) were not significant (p>0.05) compared with the control. The blood glucose concentrations of rats in groups 2 and 3 increased significantly (p<0.05) when compared with the control (group 1) within the duration of 6 hours.

Conclusion: Conclusively, this study shows that starvation has significant effect on the blood glucose level and body weight of Wistar albino rats. Such significant data (as obtainable in this study) could be extrapolated to humans with a view to unraveling the untoward consequences of starvation on the human body system.