Abstract
The increasing use of organophosphorus pesticides in the environment constitutes an ecotoxicological hazard especially for humans and non-target animals. Hereby, we analyzed the toxic effects of malathion on the histological structure of liver and biochemical parameters in male rats. Three groups received daily different amounts of malathion: 1/1000, 1/100, and 1/10 LD50 for 30 days. The weights of treated rat’s liver have increased. Analyzed tissues showed centrilobular and sinusoidal congestion, hepatocyte hypertrophy, cellular vacuolization, anucleated hepatocytes, depletion of organelles affecting the majority of cells, and presence of necrotic foci into the hepatic parenchyma. Histological sections of the liver showed important hepatocyte glycogen storage. We conclude that malathion stimulates the filing of glycogen in a dose-dependent manner. Biochemical parameters showed that alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels increased in the treated groups when the level of total protein decreased in intoxicated groups.
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The authors acknowledge the «Ministère Tunisien de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche Scientifique et de la Technologie» for financial support of this study by fundus allocated to 02/UR/08-03. We also would like to thank the staff of the Department of Hematology and Biochemistry of the University-Hospital Fattouma Bourguiba of Monastir (Tunisia) for their help.
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Imen Flehi-Slim and Issam Chargui contributed equally to this work.
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Flehi-Slim, I., Chargui, I., Boughattas, S. et al. Malathion-induced hepatotoxicity in male Wistar rats: biochemical and histopathological studies. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 17828–17838 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5014-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5014-5