Toxic Manifestation of Endosulfan and Ochratoxin- A in Adult Male Rats

Abstract

The study examined effects of Ochratoxin-A (OTA) and Endosulfan on the haematobiochemical changes in rats. Adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups and fed OTA @ 4ppm in feed (Group I); endosulfan @ 5mg/kg body weight in corn oil by oral intubation (Group II); combination of both endosulfan @ 5mg/kg body weight in corn oil and OTA @ 4ppm in feed (Group III) and toxin free feed (Group IV -control group) daily for 30 days. After treatment, blood was collected from heart for studying haematobiochemical indices. All toxin treated rats showed a significant (P<0.05) decrease in the body weights. The treated rats became anemic (normocytic hypochromic anemia) and also revealed lympho cytopenic-leukopenia. Biochemical changes included significant decline in, serum globulin, total protein and albumin along with concurrent increased levels of blood glucose, AST and ALT. Spleen of the treated animals showed depletion of lymphocytes on light microscopy. The present investigation revealed significant toxicity in combination group in comparison to single exposure to OTA or endosulfan alone (Group I and Group II, respectively). These findings suggest that concurrent exposure to endosulfan and OTA results in additive toxic manifestation on haemato-biochemical parameters in male rats.Keywords: ochratoxin-a (ota), endosulfan, normocytic normochromic anemia, lymphocytopenia, leucopenia MOJ Toxicology Research ArticleOpen Access 50-60%, respectively. Rice bran was used as bedding material which was changed on every alternate day. The rats were provided with standard laboratory animal feed and water ad libitum. After fifteen days of acclimatization period, they were randomly assigned into four groups viz. Group-I, served as a negative control and rats received standard toxin-free feed; Group-II, rats received diet containing OTA alone at a dietary level of 4ppm (as explained above); Group-III, rats received endosulfan alone dissolved in corn oil at a concentration of 5mg kg -1 b.wt. by oral intubation daily; and Group-IV, rats received both OTA (4ppm) and endosulfan (5mg kg -1 b.wt.) throughout the experiment. 13 The experiment on rats was approved by the Animal Ethical Committee of IVRI, Bareilly. The dose selection criteria for the present stud decided on the basis of oral median lethal dose (LD 50 Toxic manifestation of endosulfan and ochratoxin-a in adult male rats HematologyAt the end of the study i.e. after 30 days post-intoxication, the blood samples were collected by cardiac puncture into heparinised vials during the sacrifice of animals. Complete hemogram, including red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), total leukocyte count (TLC) , differential leukocyte count (DLC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were estimated by using standard reference methods of Jain. 16 Serum biochemistryTotal serum protein, albumin (modified Biuret & BCG dye binding methods), blood urea nitrogen (BUN...