Mature Wistar Rats' Spleen and Liver Histomorphological Changes Related to the Duration of Atrazine Exposure

Background: Spleen and liver is secondary lymphoid organ that is highly sensitive to different chemicals. Widespread use of pesticides in agriculture has always been a matter of concern. And surprisingly, atrazine distinguishes out for being used more frequently among numerous harmful pesticides. As a result, long term exposure to atrazine and other pesticides is thought to produce metabolic abnormalities; however, little is known about how atrazine affects the spleen and liver and how this relates to its histo-achitectural structure.

Aim: The histopathology of the spleen and liver from rats exposed to atrazine was the subject of our investigation.

Materials and Methods: Twenty male wistar rats ranging from 150-200g were acclimated to laboratory conditions for 14 days, following which they were randomly assigned into 4 groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 of 5 animals each based on average body weight. Groups (2-4) were administered atrazine via oral route corresponding to 1237 mg/kg (20/5 LD50), 618 mg/kg (10/5 LD50) and 309 mg/Kg/body weight (1/10 LD50) for 7, 14 and 30 days, while group I (control) received distilled water orally using orogastric canula for 30 days . The liver and spleen from each group of rats were harvested, weighed, and fixed in 10% buffered formal saline fixative before being taken for histological examination 24 hours following the experimental periods of oral administration of the extract.

Results: At the end of the experiment, the histological findings showed increased and numerous area of the white pulp of spleen from rats exposed to atrazine as compared to that from the control. The relative area of germinal centre in the structure of the splenic lymph follicles of rats exposed to atrazine also revealed increased. Also, Histo-pathologically, the liver showed necrotic hepatic cells and congested central vein, with the highest atrazine concentration causing the most adverse effects.

Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that rats exposed to high-dose of atrazine led to hypertrophy of white pulp of the spleen and hepatic cell damage with liver. From this we concluded that both organ are highly sensitive to the debilitating effects of atrazine.