The Effect of Caffeine on the Weight and Length of Femur of Balb/C Mice

Objective: To determine the effect of caffeine on the weight and length of femur of BALB/c mice. Study Design: A Laboratory based randomized control trial. Place and duration of study: The study was conducted at Anatomy Department, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi in collaboration with National Institute of Health, Islamabad for a duration of one year from 6th October 2014 to 5th October 2015. Materials and Methods: Twenty BALB/c mice (10 male, 10 female) , three weeks old, weighing 12-14 g, were taken and divided into two groups with 10 mice (5 male, 5 female) in each group. The control group G1 was given normal diet and water ad libitum. Each animal in the experimental group G2 was given 10mg of caffeine per 100g body weight on alternate day, three days in a week by oral gavage for 60 days. The effect of caffeine was evaluated by measuring the weight and length of femur of the BALB/c mice at the end of study. IBM-SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. The student's T-test was applied for intergroup comparison of quantitative variable, which was taken as means and standard deviations (mean ± SD). A p value < 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: The mean femur weight of BALB/c mice of control group G1 was observed as 0.387±0.019 g while the mean femur weight of experimental group G2 was found to be 0.316±0.020 g. However, the mean femur length of control group G1 was 20.70±0.609 mm and experimental group G2 was 24.382±1.087mm. The weight of femur was decreased in experimental group G2 while the length of femur was increased in experimental group G2 as compared to control group G1. Conclusion: Caffeine consumption causes reduction in femur weight and increase in femur length.