The effect of drinking cold water on fasting blood glucose, urea, uric acid, creatinine, liver transaminase enzymes activities, lipid profiles and thyroid hormones in ratsfiles and thyroid hormones in rats

Background: The current study was designed to investigate the changes of fasting blood glucose (FBG ), urea, uric acid, creatinine, aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-c), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxin (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) of rats after long-term drinking of cold water. Materials & Methods: In this experimental study, 12 adult male Wistar rats weighting 220-200 g were used. The rats were divided into 2 equal groups including, control and experimental groups.  The control and experimental groups received normal water (20 ° C) and cold water (4 ° C) for 60 days, respectively. At the end of the 60 days, blood was taken from the heart of animals. After separating the serum, concentration of FBG, urea, uric acid and creatinine, ALT, AST, TG, TC, HDL-c were assayed by spectrophotometer and LDL-c, VLDL-c were calculated by the Friedewald formula. The serum concentrations of TSH, T4 and T3 were identified by ELISA. Results: Results showed that cold water significantly increased the levels of ALT,AST,TG, LDL,VLDL,TSH,T4 and T3 (P<0.05) and had no significant effect on urea, uric acid, creatinine, TC and HDL levels in experimental group compared to control group. Conclusion: Cold water can have a devastating effect on the metabolism of the body in the long-term. Although more studies are needed.