Dose-dependent hepatotoxicity of liraglutide in pregnant wistar rats
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v14i4.48683Keywords:
Liraglutide, Pregnancy in Obesity, Glucagon-Like Peptide 1, Diabetes Mellitus Type 2.Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible hepatotoxic effects of liraglutide, a GLP-1 analog used in the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Twenty Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) were used, divided into four groups (control, 0.007 mg/mL, 0.07 mg/mL and 0.7 mg/mL) and treated for 21 days (gestation). The study was submitted to and approved by CEUA/UNIPAM under protocol number 94/23. After inhalation anesthesia with isofluorane, laparatomy was performed followed by blood collection for biochemical tests, euthanasia and removal of the livers for weighing and histopathological analysis. There were no statistically significant changes (p>0.05) in the levels of the liver enzymes ALT and AST, despite the high variation in the standard deviation observed in some groups (0.07mg/mL and 0.7mg/mL) according to the ANOVA/Tukey statistical test. There was a significant reduction (p<0.05) in body weight in the 0.7 mg/mL group and in liver weight in the 0.07 mg/mL group compared to the control according to the ANOVA/Tukey statistical test. A score system was used to assess cell damage and field involvement: (-) absent, (+) slight, (++) moderate and (+++) severe. Histopathological findings included lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate, hepatocyte necrosis and intracanalicular cholestasis, both discrete and focal. The histological evaluation revealed no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) between the groups according to the Kruskal-Wallis statistical test, followed by Dunn's method. It is concluded that liraglutide, even at high doses, did not demonstrate significant hepatotoxicity in pregnant rats. However, further studies with larger sample sizes and molecular investigations are recommended to confirm the safety of liraglutide use during pregnancy.
Downloads
References
Abdelsameea, A.A., Abbas, N.A. & Abdel Raouf, S.M. (2017). Liraglutide attenuates partial warm ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat livers. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 390, 311–319 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-016-1330-7
Albuquerque, M. F., Rodriguez, J. E. R., Sousa, A. A. de F., Gil, A. P. de S. M., Farias, R. O., & Pinto, A. P. O. (2022). Colestase intra-hepática gestacional: uma revisão narrativa. Revista Eletrônica Acervo Saúde, 15(6), e10338. https://doi.org/10.25248/reas.e10338.2022.
Alesco. (2022). Mini-Isoladores ventilife para ratos. Cátalogo de produtos 2022. https://www.alesco.com.br/mini-isolador-ventilife-para-ratos.
Almeida Junior, S. de, Pereira, P. M., Totoli, V. de S., Carrijo, M. S., Badoco, F. R., Pereira, L. de F., Dias, F. G. G., & Furtado, R. A. (2020). Validação de parâmetros do perfil renal e hepático de roedores Rattus norvegicus do Biotério de manutenção da Universidade de Franca. Research, Society and Development, 9(5), e18952619. https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i5.2619.
Alruwaili, H., Dehestani, B., le Roux, C.W. (2021). Impacto clínico da liraglutida como tratamento da obesidade. Clin Pharmacol ,13,53-60. https://doi.org/10.2147/CPAA.S276085.
Alves, V.A.F & Mello, E.S. (2021). Fígado e Vias Biliares. In Filho, G. B. (10th). Bogliolo - Patologia (pp. 787-849). Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, (ed. Gen).
Alvim, M., Alves, A. C., Vaz, M., Almeida, S., Constantino, J. V., Bourbon, M. (2022). Estudo para a determinação dos valores de referência das enzimas aspartato aminnotransferase (AST), alanina aminotransferase (ALT) e gama- glutamil transferase (GGT), no soro. Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, 31 (11), 44-48. Disponível em https://repositorio.insa.pt/entities/publication/92cc3a6b-fbd5-4588-ac3f-c2b6a50a7e7b.
Becker, L., Lu C.E., Montes-mojarro, I. A., Layland, S. L., Khalil, S., Nsair, A., Duffy, G. P., Fend, F., Marzi, J., Schenke-layland, K. (2023). Raman microspectroscopy identifies fibrotic tissues in collagen-related disorders via deconvoluted collagen type I spectra. Elsevier BV: Acta Biomaterialia,162(1),278-291. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2023.03.016.
Bioclin. (2018). Transaminase AST (TGO) cinética: K048. Bioclin. Acesso em 19/04/2025. https://quibasa.bioclin.com.br/anexos/INSTRUCOES_TRANSAMINASE_AST_TGO_CINETICA.pdf.
Bioclin. (2019). Transaminase ALT (TGP) cinética: K049. Bioclin. Acesso em 19/04/2025. https://quibasa.bioclin.com.br/anexos/INSTRUCOES_TRANSAMINASE_ALT_TGP_CINETICA.pdf.
Costa, I. M., de Almeida, J. D., da Costa, K. M., Jardim, L. F. S., Rosa, M. J. dos S., Pifano, P. P., de Oliveira, R. R., Silva, S. O., Lima, S. da S., & Godoy, J. T. (2021). Uso de análogos de GLP-1 no tratamento da obesidade: uma revisão narrativa / Use of GLP-1 analogues in treatment of obesity: a narrative review. Brazilian Journal of Health Review, 4(2), 4236–4247. https://doi.org/10.34119/bjhrv4n2-022
Dathe, K. & Schaefer, C. (2019). The Use of Medication in Pregnancy. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 116(46),783-790. http://dx.doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2019.0783.
Érica Vieira, S. (2021). Introdução à bioestatistica. Editora GEN/Guanabara Koogan.
Favoretto, S. M., Seabra, D. I., Olivato, M. C. M. (2019). Guia de eutanásia para animais de ensino e pesquisa. Universidade Federal de São Paulo. Acesso em 19 de abril de 2025. Disponível em https://ceuaics.ufba.br/sites/ceuaics.ufba.br/files/guia_eutanasia_unifesp_versao_final_042019.pdf
Fontana, J., Kučera, O., Anděl, M., Červinková, Z. (2019) Effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue liraglutide on primary cultures of rat hepatocytes isolated from lean and steatotic livers. General Physiology And Biophysics, 38(04), 343-352. http://dx.doi.org/10.4149/gpb_2019016.
Hilal-Dandan, R., Brunton, L. Toxicidade por fármacos e envenenamento. In: Hilal-Dandan, Randa; Brunton, Laurence. (2015). Manual de Farmacologia e Terapêutica de Goodman & Gilman. Porto Alegre, Brasil, Amgh.
Imbernon, M., Saponaro, C., Helms, H.C.C. Duquenne, M., Fernandois, D., Deligia, E., Denis, R.G.P., Chao, D.H.M., Rasika, S., Staels B., Pattou, F., Pfrieger, F.W. Brodin, B., Luquet, S., Bonner, C., Prevot V. (2022). Tanycytes control hypothalamic liraglutide uptake and its anti-obesity actions. Elsevier BV: Cell Metabolism, 34(7),1-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.06.002.
Inayat, F., Khan, A.A., Afzal, S., Taj, S., Amin, M.K., Rehman, A. U., Goraya, M.H.N., Nawaz, G., Ishtiaq, R., Jaan, A., Vasim, I. (2022) Drug-induced liver injury associated with liraglutide use: a systematic review of detection, severity, causality assessment, and clinical outcomes. Journal Of Clinical and Translational Research, 9(3), 168-174. http://dx.doi.org/10.18053/jctres.09.202303.004
Izuta, M., Kuwamoto, S., Kamiya, T., Nagata, K., Matsushita, M., Inaga, S., Kaido, T., Umekita, Y., Hayashi, K., Kitamura, Y. (2023). Imaging of Liver Tissues Using a Combination of Silver Impregnation and Low-Vacuum Scanning Electron Microscopy; A Simple Method for the High-Resolution Visualization of Reticulin Structures with Applicability to a Quantitative Analysis. Tottori University Faculty of Medicine: Yonago Acta Medica, 66(1),78-86. http://dx.doi.org/10.33160/yam.2023.02.009.
Jin J. (2022). Safety of Medications Used During Pregnancy. JAMA, 328(5), 486. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2022.8974
KanwaL, S.& Alemadi, E.A. (2021) Liraglutida para controle de peso, análise crítica de eficácia e Efeitos colaterais em indivíduos não diabéticos com obesidade: uma revisão sistemática abrangente. World Family Medicine,19 (4), 72-83. DOI: 10.5742 / MEWFM.2021.94031.
Lee, M.-Y., Chen, W.-C., Hsu, W.-H., Chen, S.-C., & Lee, J.-C.. Liraglutida inibe a replicação do vírus da hepatite C por meio de um mecanismo dependente de proteína quinase ativada por AMP. International Journal of Molecular Sciences , 20 (18), 4569. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20184569.
Malik, A., Amjad, W., Inayat, F., Nadeem, M., Weissman, S., & Imran Malik, M. et al. (2023). The effects of liraglutide on liver enzymes and metabolic factors in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Gastroenterology Review/Przegląd Gastroenterologiczny, 18(1), 100-109. https://doi.org/10.5114/pg.2022.112775.
Milani, L., Galindo, C. M., Turin de Oliveira, N. M., Corso, C. R., Adami, E. R., Stipp, M. C., Beltrame, O. C., & Acco, A. (2019). The GLP-1 analog liraglutide attenuates acute liver injury in mice. Annals of hepatology, 18(6), 918–928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aohep.2019.04.011.
Peradze, N., Farr, O. M., Perakakis, N., Lázaro, I., Sala-Vila, A., & Mantzoros, C. S. (2019). Short-term treatment with high dose liraglutide improves lipid and lipoprotein profile and changes hormonal mediators of lipid metabolism in obese patients with no overt type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over, double-blind clinical trial. Cardiovascular diabetology, 18(1), 141. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-019-0945-7.
Pereira A. S. et al. (2018). Metodologia da pesquisa científica. [free e-book]. Editora UAB/NTE/UFSM.
Raina, P., Dharamdasani, S., Chinnam, D., Sharma, P., Gupta, S. (2024). Bombr: an annotated bone marrow biopsy dataset for segmentation of reticulin fibers. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: Biorxiv, 1, 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.02.616389.
Saxenda: Solução injetável. (2023). Responsável técnico Laura F. O. Azevedo. Dinamarca: Novo Nordisk. https://consultas.anvisa.gov.br/#/bulario/q/?numeroRegistro=117660032
Shitsuka et al. (2014). Matemática fundamental para a tecnologia. Editora Érica.
Song, J. X., An, J. R., Chen, Q., Yang, X. Y., Jia, C. L., Xu, S., … Ji, E. S. (2022). Liraglutide attenuates hepatic iron levels and ferroptosis in db/db mice. Bioengineered, 13(4), 8334–8348. https://doi.org/10.1080/21655979.2022.2051858.
Yamazaki, S., Satoh, H., Watanabe, T. (2014). Liraglutide Enhances Insulin Sensitivity by Activating AMP-Activated Protein Kinase in Male Wistar Rats. Endocrinology, 155(9), 3288–3301, https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2013-2157.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Gabriel Reis Caixeta; Hugo Vinhal Ribeiro de Sena; Luciana de Almeida França; Guilherme Nascimento Cunha

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.