Evaluation of Genotoxicity Induced by Low Dose Oral Exposure of Deltamethrin in Mice Model

The study was conducted to elucidate the genotoxic effect of deltamethrin in Swiss Albino male mice following oral exposure, by comet assay and micronuclei induction test. Deltamethrin was administered at the dose rate of 1.5 mg/kg bwt, 1.0 mg/kg bwt and 0.5 mg/kg body weight. Mean head DNA percentage, mean tail DNA percentage, mean tail length and mean olive moment were the endpoints for the comet assay. Deltamethrin resulted in a significant comet formation at 15, 30 and 60 days of oral exposure in a dose and time dependent manner. Mean tail DNA% at 15, 30 and 60 days of exposure to deltamethrin was 59.28, 57.74 and 63.14, respectively. The results were found to be significantly different in treatment groups as compared to the control groups. Micronucleated normochromatic erythrocytes, micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes and polychromatic erythrocytes percentage were the endpoints for the micronuclei induction test. Deltamethrin induced significantly higher number of micronuclei in treatment group than the negative control. In conclusion, present study indicates that pesticides are slow poison and even a low dose of pesticide can cause genotoxicity and other biological effects when exposed to for longer duration.