Association of Oral Contraceptives Consumption with C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) and Interleukin (IL-6) in Female in vivo Model

Background and Objective: Inflammatory biomarkers like C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) are implicated in lots of inflammatory and auto-immune disorders and thus often used as tools for prediction of disease risk. The study aimed to determine the effects of oral contraceptive pills (Exluton and Combi-3) on these inflammatory biomarkers. Materials and Methods: The 25 adult female albino Wistar rats were obtained from the Animal House of Rivers State University, Port Harcourt and were divided into 5 groups of 5 Wistar rats each-Control, 200, 400 mg/kg Exluton, 200 and 400 mg/kg Combi-3 groups. They were allowed standard feed and water ad libitum to acclimatize for 14 days, after which the test drugs were administered to the various groups for 21 days. The rats were sacrificed and blood samples were collected for assessment of CRP, TNF and IL-6 using standard laboratory procedures. Data obtained were subjected to IBM SPSS, version 25 for statistical analysis. Results: The results for CRP revealed a non-significant (p>0.05) decrease in the groups 200, 400 mg/kg Exluton and 200 mg/kg Combi-3 and a nonsignificant (p>0.05) elevation of 400 mg/kg Combi-3 group. The result for IL-6 demonstrated a significant (p<0.05) elevation and reduction in 200 and 400 mg/kg Exluton groups, respectively and a non-significant (p>0.05) increase and decrease in 200 and 400 mg/kg Combi-3, respectively. The findings for TNF showed that a significant elevation was observed in TNF on administration of Exluton and Combi-3 when all were compared with the control groups. Conclusion: The oral contraceptives of study tend to inhibit elevation of C-reactive protein and have variable changes on IL-6, tending to decrease it at high doses. A markedly significant increase in TNF was also observed. This increase in TNF could account for the potential risk in incidences of autoimmune, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and other metabolic risks associated with oral contraceptives.