Morphological effects of chronic efavirenz administration on the kidney of adult Wistar rats

Efavirenz is commonly used as part of the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1. The effects of chronic administration of efavirenz on the kidney of adult Wistar rats were investigated. The rats were divided into two groups, those given efavirenz (treatment) and those given water (control), both for 30 days. The animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation on Day 31 of the experiment and kidneys were dissected, weighed and quickly fixed in 10% formalin for histological analysis. The findings indicate that there was a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in weight and increase in relative weight of treated right and left kidneys compared to the control group. Kidneys in the treated group showed disruption of the cytoarchitecture of the renal cortical structure, diffuse glomerulonephritis with some cell congestion, and dilation of Bowman’s space compared to the control group. Chronic efavirenz administration may therefore have an adverse effect on the kidney function of adult Wistar rats. Further studies to corroborate these observations should be carried out.