Effects of methiocarb on lipid peroxidation and glutathione level in rat tissues

Abstract

Methiocarb is an N-methylcarbamate insecticide used worldwide in agriculture and health programs. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effects of methiocarb to induce lipid peroxidation (LPO) in tissues of male Wistar rats following single and repeated oral exposures. Animals were divided into six different groups, and methiocarb was administered by orally at doses 25, 10, and 2 mg/kg body weight for 1, 5, and 28 days, respectively. Liver, kidney, brain, and testis tissues were taken from the rats for the biochemical examinations. LPO and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were determined in the tissues. LPO was significantly increased in liver, kidney, brain, and testis after 1-, 5-, and 28-day treatments of methiocarb. GSH levels were significantly increased in the 1-day period and significantly decreased in the 5- and 28-day periods in all tissues after methiocarb administration. It is concluded that methiocarb may induce LPO and produce disturbances on the GSH levels in liver, kidney, testis, and brain of rats. This suggests that methiocarb-induced toxicity may be associated with oxidative stress to cellular membranes. Further studies are required to better understand the role of oxidative stress on methiocarb-induced toxicity.

Keywords::

• Methiocarb
• lipid peroxidation
• glutathione
• liver
• kidney
• brain
• testis

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Research Fund of Istanbul University (T-338/03112003 and UDP-4062/16072009).The authors would like to thank Prof.Dr.Tuncay Altug, Director of the animal house of Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine at Istanbul University for his support and encouragement. The authors would like to thank Prof. Dr. Tuncay Altug and people who work in the animal house of Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine at Istanbul University for their help in this study.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.