Synergistic Toxicity Studies and Effect of Sub-Lethal Doses of Locally Formulated Pesticides “Ota-Piapia” on Wistar Rats

Abstract

The research measured the synergistic and toxic effect of Sub-lethal doses of locally formulated pesticide “Ota-piapia” on some liver enzymes activities and haemato-biochemical parameters in Wistar rats while extrapolate their likely effect on humans and the possibility of recovery after cessation of exposure. Twenty-four male and female Wistar rats were acquired from the animal house of Biological Sciences department of Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna and were allowed to acclimatize for 4 weeks. They were assigned into four different groups (1, 2, 3 and 4) of four rats per group. Group1 served as the control thus no treatment was administered. Varying concentrations (w/v) of “Ota piapia” were administered to groups 2 (5 mL), 3 (8 mL) and 4 (10 mL) via sprinkling with 10 mL syringe three times a week for a period of 12 weeks. The rats were left for 4 weeks to recover from the effect of the pesticide. Both groups were mildly anaesthetized with chloroform before euthanasia and dissection and subsequently they were sacrificed. Blood were immediately collected and analyzed for activities of some liver enzymes and haemato-biochemical parameters. Results revealed increase in aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein, red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), as compared to the control (P<0.05). There was no significant level of recovery in the haematological and biochemical parameter when compared to the control group even after four weeks of cessation of exposure. The findings of the study showed that local formulation of Ota-piapia pesticide had significant (P<0.05) effect on the experimental animals at different sub-lethal concentrations. We therefore, recommend that such pesticide be handled with caution and its proliferation should be regulated.