RESUMO
Five insecticides namely; abamectin, carbosulfan, fenpropathrin, methomyl and profenofos were given by gavages to male albino rats. These insecticides were administered daily for 28 days with doses equaled 1/20 LD 50 either singly or in a mixture of all the insecticides together. The study revealed significant decreases in body and kidneys weights, while increases in liver weights in all the treatments. Most of the treatments induced significant elevations in serum alanine aminotransferase [ALT] and aspartate aminotransferase [AST], while caused decreases in acetylcholinesterase [AChE] activities. Fenpropathrin and the mixture induced significant increase in total protein content of the serum, while the other treatments induced significant decreases. Creatinine concentrations recorded significant elevations in fenpropathrin and methomyl treatments, while significant decrease in case of Profenofos. Degenerative changes and granularity of hepatocytes with Kupffer cells activation were observed in the treatments with the mixture or and methomyl. Shrinking in Bowman's capsule and degenerative changes of epithelium lining renal tubules were observed in rats treated with the mixture. Moreover, necrotic changes associated with desquamation of epithelium lining tubules were shown in rats treated with the mixture, fenpropathrin and methomyl. From the biochemical data, the joint action was estimated for the mixture composed of the five insecticides. The mixture interacts antagonistically with most of the measured biochemical parameters