The Effect of Contraceptive Pills on the Severity of Visceral Leishmaniasis by Measuring Some Physiological Parameters

Background: Leishmania donovani can cause a serious infection if it is left without treatment. The parasite is transmitted by the bite of an infected female phlebotomine sandfly. The disease is prevalent throughout the world and in at least 88 countries. Objective: This study aims to know the effect of contraceptive pills (OC) on the severity of infection of Leishmania donovani in infected mice, by measuring the levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone, cholesterol, and total protein in the sera of infected mice. It is taken by dosage in the form of tablets dissolved in water at a dose of 0.012 ml/day and is compared with the drug pentostam, which is given by injection at 0.04 ml/day for a treatment of 21 days. Methods: The animals were divided into five groups, only the first group was uninfected, while the remaining four groups were infected, as follows: The second group was infected only. It was not dosed with pills and was not injected with pentostam treatment., the third group was dosed orally with contraceptive pills, the fourth group was considered a treatment group (pentostam ), and the fifth group was dosed orally with pills and injected with treatment for comparison. Blood was collected from mice after three weeks on the 7, 14, and 21 days in special tubes containing a gelatinous substance for the purpose of conducting the required tests. Results: The results showed that the OC led to a significant increase in all indicators in the third week, which is compared with the drug group pentostam group, Data expressed as mean ± SD and values of ( P>0.05) were considered statically nonsignificant, while (P<0.05) and (P<0.01) were considered significantly different, highly significantly different, respectively. Conclusions: It can be concluded that OC pills had an important role in increasing the severity of parasite infection in laboratory animals through the noticeable increase in the indicators that were measured.