Endosulfan Toxicity and Dietary Protein

Abstract

Male albino rats were fed for 28 days from weaning on a diet containing 0% (group 1), 3m5% (group 2), 9% (group 3), 26% (group 4), or 81% (group 5) protein as casein. At the end of the dieting period, the acute oral median lethal dose ± standard error of the mean (LD5o ± SE) of endosulfan, in milligrams per kilogram of body weight, was 5.1 ± 1.4 in group 1, 24 ± 10 in group 2, 57 ± 4 in group 3, 102 ± 16 in group 4, and 98 ± 7 in group 5. The syndrome of intoxication to endosulfan at the range of the acute oral LD₅₀ was essentially the same in animals of ali five groups and consisted of stimulation of the central nervous system, an irritant gas-iroenteritis, and congestion of the brain and liver. Augmentation of susceptibility of protein-deficient rats to toxic effects of pesticides varied considerably from agent to agent.