Effects of Subchronic Coexposure to Arsenic and En

Authors: Manoj Aggarwal Suresh Babu Naraharisetti S N Sarkar G S Rao G H Degen J K Malik

Publish Date: 2008/04/29

Volume: 56, Issue: 1, Pages: 139-

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Abstract

Arsenic is a known global groundwater contaminant The organochlorine insecticide endosulfan has gained significance as an environmental pollutant due to its widespread use in the control of many food and nonfoodcropdamaging insects The adverse effects produced by arsenic or endosulfan alone in humans and animals are well documented but very little is known about the consequences of their coexposure We evaluated whether their simultaneous exposure can induce oxidative stress and affect antioxidative systems and certain membranebound enzymes in erythrocytes of broiler chickens Dayold chicks were exposed to 37 ppm of arsenic via drinking water or 30 ppm of endosulfanmixed feed or similarly coexposed to these in the same dose levels for 60 days At term the impact of their coexposure was assessed by evaluating lipid peroxidation LPO activities of superoxide dismutase SOD catalase glutathione peroxidase GPx glutathioneStransferase GST different ATPases and acetylcholinesterase AChE in erythrocytes serum glucose and levels of glutathione GSH and glycosylated hemoglobin GHb in blood LPO was increased with all of the treatments Catalase was decreased with endosulfan and the coexposure but not with arsenic whereas GSH was decreased with arsenic and endosulfan but not with the coexposure All of the treatments increased SOD and GPx activities GST activity was increased only in the coexposed birds None of the treatments affected the activities of total ATPase and Mg2+ATPase Na+K+ATPase activity was decreased in the endosulfantreated and the coexposed birds All three exposures increased erythrocyte AChE activity Endosulfan increased the serum glucose level and arsenic and endosulfan increased GHb levels but these were not altered in the coexposed birds Erythrocyte protein content was insignificantly decreased with these treatments Overall the effects of coexposure were not appreciably different from either of the agents except on AChE GSH and glucose The results do not reflect any specific type of interaction between these agents in chicken erythrocytes but they do indicate that the coexposure induces a low level of oxidative stress which is comparable to that induced by arsenic or endosulfanThe Junior Research Fellowship awarded to Dr Manoj Aggarwal by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research ICAR New Delhi is gratefully acknowledged The authors are thankful to M/s Mitsu Crop Sciences Pvt Ltd India for the gift of the technicalgrade endosulfan and express gratitude to the Director of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute for providing necessary facilities for the present work

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