Acute Effect of Tobacco Snuff Consumption on Plasma Total Protein, Albumin, Globulin and Fasting Blood Sugar Level in Rats

This study was designed to investigate the effect of tobacco snuff consumption on total protein, albumin, globulin and fasting blood sugar level. Adult Wistar rats (12) weighing 150-300g were involved. They were divided into four groups; group A serving as control, while groups B, C and D served as the test groups. The rats were fed with varying doses of tobacco dust mixed with potash (tobacco snuff). At the end of the experiment, the animals were sacrificed and blood sample collected into lithium heparin container. Total protein (24.34 ± 4.10 g/dl), albumin (13.80 ± 4.66 g/dl), and fasting blood sugar were assayed and the results obtained showed statistically significant changes. However, fasting blood sugar (117.33 ± 38.50mg/dl) showed decrease that was not statistically significant in all the groups throughout the experiment. The results of this study suggest that tobacco snuff is toxic to the synthetic capacity of the liver and the observed changes were dose dependent.