Prospective electron microscopic study of the immune system toxicity on exposure to pyrethroid air pollution

The synthetic pyrethroid-piperonyl butoxide was studied for effects on the immune system in seven consecutive days. Sixty adult male Sprague Dawely rats were divided into two main groups. The first animal group was subdivided into normal control group [10 animals], carrageenan [1% v/v] subplanter treated animal group [10 animals] and carrageenan-dexamethasonc [0.5 ml/ml DW] treated animal group [10 animals]. The animals of the main second group [30 animals] were exposed to the vapour of the mosquito killer insecticide in a closed system [20 minutes/day] for 7 consequetive days, then the animals of this group were subdivided into three groups as mentioned before in the first main group. The different groups were studied for mean thymus and spleen weights, rat paw oedema mean weights, total and differential leucocytic counts, bone marrow lymphocytic count and electron microscopic [EM] ultrastructure studies of inflammed and uninflammed tissues. Our results showed that mosquito-cidal air pollution has significantly increased the spleen weight and leg oedema weight, these changes were associated with EM lymphocytic apoptosis, nuclear and cellular deathes, nuclear chromatic condensation and mitochondrial damage. The morphological, histopathological and ultrastructure changes were significantly ameliorated tinder the effect of dexamethasone, but these anti-inflammatory changes of dexamethasone were significantly antagonized by pyrethrin and piperonyl butoxide vapour

Influence of deltamethrin and diazinon on the in-situ intestinal absorption of glucose and aspartic acid

Residues from insecticides used in agriculture and public health represent the most common source of food contamination allover the world. Deltamethrin [a potent synthetic pyrethroid compound] and diazinon [an organophosphate insecticide] are two of the most widely used insecticides. The wide spread use of these insecticides stimulated our interest for studying their possible toxic effect[s] in man and animals. The aim of the present work was to study the influence of short-term oral daily feeding with diet containing either deltemethrin or diazinon on the in-situ intestinal absorption of some basic nutrients. The utilized concentrations of the two insecticides were equivalent to ten times the human maximum acceptable daily intake. The basic nutrients to be absorbed were D-glucose and DL-aspartic acid. The experiment was performed on Sprague Dawley male rats. They were divided into three main groups. The first group served as control. The other two groups were fed a diet containing either deltamethrin [20 ppm] or diazinon [0.8 ppm] daily for 7 consecutive days. Twenty four hours later, animals of each group were subdivided into 3 subgroups and subjected to in-situ intestinal perfusion for 90 minutes, using saline alone or saline containing either 8 mM glucose or 2 mM DL- aspartic acid. The results showed that diazinon dramatically affects both normal glucose homeostasis and amino acid pool of the small intestine. In-situ intestinal absorption of glucose was increased under the influence of either deltamethrin or diazinon while the rate constant of absorption was not changed. Also, the in-situ intestinal absorption of aspartic acid was significantly decreased under the influence of either deltamethrin or diazinon. The obtained changes, either in exsorption or absorption, due to both insecticides indicate clearly that the process of transport was severely affected

Neurobehavioral effects of biphenyl dimethyl dicarboxylate in male mice

Biphenyl dimehtyl dicarboxylate [DDB] is a synthetic analogue of Schisandrin C which is a well known Folk Medicine. The growing increase in the long-term use of DDB, especially in patients with liver disease, stimulated our interest to evaluate its effects on behavior. The present piece of work examines its possible potential to induce aggression. DDB was administered orally at two dose levels, 60 and 120 mg/kg using male Swiss mice, daily for one week. The following tests were performed: open-field test [OFT], home cage observation [HCO] at two observation episodes [night and day] and resident intruder paradigm [RIP]. In addition, serotonin [5- HT], dopamine [DA] and norepinephrine [NE] levels were assayed in the whole brain. DDB was found not to affect animal behavior in the OFT. On the other hand, significant changes were noticed in animal behavior in each of HCO and RIP. The results of HCO showed that DDB causes an increase in the number of encounters, score of encounters and intensity of attack, the effects which were of constant pattern among night and day episodes. As regarding RIP there was a dose- dependent decrease in both latency of 1[st] interaction and 1[st] attack, with corresponding increase in number of attacks, score of attacks, intensity of attack and length of the attack period. As for brain neurotransmitters, DDB administration did not affect 5-HT level in whole brain. However, the high dose of DDB caused a decrease in DA levels, while each of the low and high doses could decrease the NE levels. In addition, a significant increase in the body weight was demonstrated only in mice received the high dose of DDB. Thus, the obtained results may point to the need for careful monitoring of the possible DDB behavioral effects during its administration for long terms. In addition, more detailed neurobehavioral evaluation on the DDB need to be performed

Effect of permethrin, pirimiphos methyl and bendiocarb on the osmotic resistance of rat erythrocytes

Environmental pollution by insecticides is one of the most important problems in the world. Some of the pesticides were found to exert carcinogenic, teratogenic and/or mutagenic effects even following normal agricultural use [U.S.Geological Survey, 1997]. On the other hand residues from insecticides, herbicides and insect growth hormones are known to represent the most common food contaminants particularly in developing countries. Thus the wide spread use of insecticides in agriculture stimulated our interest for studying their possible toxic effect[s] in man and animals. The aim of the present work was to study the effect of short term [for 2 weeks] oral daily feeding with diet containing 10 times the human maximum acceptable daily intake [a concentration that may be faced by human] of either permethrin, pirimiphos-methyl or bendiocarb on osmotic fragility of rat erythrocytes. Sprague Dawley male rats were divided into four groups, each consists of 10 animals. Animals of each group were fed either normal diet [control group], permethrin [21.7 ppm], pirimiphos-methyl [4.4 ppm] or bendiocarb [2.0 ppm] for 2 weeks. Twenty four hours later, blood samples were withdrawn and osmotic fragility was determined. The obtained results indicated that permethrin, pirimiphos-methyl and bendiocarb increase the osmotic fragility

Effect of insulin administration and immobilization stress on liver glycogen metabolism in diabetic rats

Hepatic glycogen content as quantified both biochemically and histologically was estimated in control rats, in alloxan-induced diabetic rats, in diabetic rats treated with 10 IU insulin for one week, and in diabetic rats exposed to stress in the form of immobilization for 15 minutes prior to their sacrifice. Diabetic rats demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in liver glycogen content, and histologically there was marked depletion in the majority of the hepatic cells. Administration of insulin to diabetic rats revealed a statistically significant increase in liver glycogen content above the levels obtained in both diabetic and control animals and histologically there was almost restoration of the glycogen content in the hepatic cells. This adds further confirmation as to that administration of insulin in the intact animal switched the liver from glycogenolysis to synthesis. The probable mechanisms underlying insulin mode of action were discussed. Exposure of diabetic rats to acute stress in the form of immobilization, resulted in a statistically significant reduction in liver glycogen content from both control and diabetic values. Histologically, there was marked depletion of glycogen in all liver cells which was far more greater than that observed in the hepatic cells from non-stressed diabetic rats. The probable causes of the augmented glycogenolysis in stressed diabetic rats were discussed