Individual and Combined Effects of Chronic Ochratoxin A and Zearalenone Mycotoxins on Rat Liver and Kidney PDF

Keywords

albino rats, ochratoxin A, Zearalenone

Abstract

Twenty-eight male albino rats were divided into four groups, one group was injected intraperitoneally with ochratoxin A (OTA); a second group was injected with Zearalenone (ZEAR); a third group was injected with a mixture of the two mycotoxins and a fourth group was used as control. Injections were made twice a week, for twenty weeks. Animal weights were recorded on weekly intervals. At the end of the study, all rats were killed, blood samples were drawn to determine white blood cell count and the packed cell volume. The liver, kidneys and other organs which exhibited abnormalities were weighed and processed for histopathological studies. Ochratoxin A, caused a significant (P< 0.001) drop in the average body weight of the rats after eight weeks of treatment and produced the lowest relative kidney weights. Rats treated with ZEAR had significantly (P=0.035) low PCV readings. When ZEAR was combined with OTA it resulted in antagonistic effects in most of the parameters of the study. The histopathological study confirmed the nephrotoxicity of OTA. One case of immunoblastic lymphoma was observed in this study. This observation suggests some relationship between mycotoxicosis and lymphoma.