Effect of zinc supplementation on immunotoxicity induced by subchronic oral exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide (GOBARA®) in Wistar rats.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of zinc supplementation on immunotoxicity induced by subchronic oral exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH). METHODS: Sixty adult male Wistar rats randomly divided equally into six groups were exposed to GBH by gavage daily for 16 weeks with or without zinc pretreatment. Group DW rats received distilled water (2 mL/kg), group Z rats received zinc (50 mg/kg), and group G1 and G2 rats received 187.5 and 375 mg/kg GBH, respectively. Group ZG1 and ZG2 rats were pretreated with 50 mg/kg zinc before exposure to 187.5 and 375 mg/kg GBH, respectively. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and immunoglobulin (IgG, IgM, IgE) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Spleen, submandibular lymph node, and thymus samples were processed for histopathology. RESULTS: Exposure to GBH (G1 and G2) significantly increased serum TNF-α concentrations and significantly decreased serum IgG and IgM concentrations compared with the control levels. Moderate-to-severe lymphocyte depletion occurred in the spleen, lymph nodes, and thymus in the GBH-exposed groups. Zinc supplementation mitigated the immunotoxic effects of GBH exposure. CONCLUSIONS: GBH exposure increased pro-inflammatory cytokine responses, decreased immunoglobulin production, and depleted lymphocytes in lymphoid organs in rats, but zinc supplementation mitigated this immunotoxicity.

Laboratory diagnosis of a new outbreak of acute African swine fever in smallholder pig farms in Jos, Nigeria.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious fatal infectious disease of pigs and wild suids. The disease has a worldwide occurrence and significant impact on pig production. Two adult intensively raised large white boars from two farms in Jos with a history of sudden death were diagnosed of ASF between July and August 2019. Post-mortem examination of carcasses grossly showed splenomegaly, haemorrhagic lymphadenitis and hepatomegaly with severe congestion. The kidneys were enlarged and had generalized petechiae and blood clot in the pelvis. The heart was moderately enlarged. Microscopic examination of the spleen and lymph nodes revealed severe lymphocytic depletion, haemorrhage and severe haemosiderosis. The liver was severely congested with focal coagulative necrosis of the hepatocytes. The kidneys were severely congested and showed renal tubular necrosis with few tubular protein casts. Tissue samples were confirmed to be positive for African swine fever virus (ASFV) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolate belonged to genotype I.

Effect of zinc supplementation on chronic hepatorenal toxicity following oral exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide (Bushfire®) in rats.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of zinc pretreatment on hepatorenal toxicity following chronic exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides in male rats. METHODS: Following zinc pretreatment (50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg), 14.4 to 750 mg/kg of oral glyphosate (Bushfire® herbicide) was administered daily for 36 weeks. Thereafter, serum samples were obtained following jugular venipuncture. Liver and kidney samples were processed for histopathological examination. RESULTS: Serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase activity as well as levels of bicarbonate, calcium, creatinine were significantly increased following chronic exposure to Bushfire®. Serum levels of sodium, potassium, chloride, total protein, albumin, globulin and urea were unchanged. Moderate to severe coagulative necrosis of hepatocytes as well as glomerular and renal tubular necrosis were observed in herbicide-treated rats. Zinc pretreatment reduced the elevation of serum enzymes associated with hepatobiliary lesions, abrogated hypercalcemia and metabolic alkalosis, and mitigated serum accumulation of creatinine following Bushfire® exposure, but was ineffective in completely preventing histological lesions. CONCLUSION: Chronic Bushfire® exposure in rats caused hepatorenal toxicity. The effects of exposure on serum parameters were ameliorated by zinc pretreatment, but the histopathological changes associated with toxicity persisted in milder forms in zinc-pretreated animals.

Aluminium toxicosis: a review of toxic actions and effects.

Aluminium (Al) is frequently accessible to animal and human populations to the extent that intoxications may occur. Intake of Al is by inhalation of aerosols or particles, ingestion of food, water and medicaments, skin contact, vaccination, dialysis and infusions. Toxic actions of Al induce oxidative stress, immunologic alterations, genotoxicity, pro-inflammatory effect, peptide denaturation or transformation, enzymatic dysfunction, metabolic derangement, amyloidogenesis, membrane perturbation, iron dyshomeostasis, apoptosis, necrosis and dysplasia. The pathological conditions associated with Al toxicosis are desquamative interstitial pneumonia, pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, granulomas, granulomatosis and fibrosis, toxic myocarditis, thrombosis and ischemic stroke, granulomatous enteritis, Crohn's disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, anemia, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, sclerosis, autism, macrophagic myofasciitis, osteomalacia, oligospermia and infertility, hepatorenal disease, breast cancer and cyst, pancreatitis, pancreatic necrosis and diabetes mellitus. The review provides a broad overview of Al toxicosis as a background for sustained investigations of the toxicology of Al compounds of public health importance.

Pancreatic function and histoarchitecture in Wistar rats following chronic exposure to Bushfire®: the mitigating role of zinc.

Objectives To assess the toxicopathologic effects of chronic exposure to the glyphosate-based herbicide Bushfire® on the pancreas of Wistar rats and the protective role of zinc. Methods We exposed the rats to daily doses of 14.4 to 750 mg/kg body weight of the glyphosate-based herbicide Bushfire® and to 50 or 100 mg/kg zinc, and measured blood glucose levels and serum insulin levels. Tissue samples were evaluated for histopathological alterations. Results Levels of both blood glucose and serum insulin increased in glyphosate-exposed rats, and moderate to severe degenerative changes were observed in both glandular pancreatic acinar cells and islets of Langerhans in all rats exposed to glyphosate. These effects were prevented by pretreatment with zinc. Conclusion Chronic exposure to glyphosate can alter pancreatic function and histoarchitecture, but zinc supplementation can mitigate these toxicopathologic effects.

Phenotypic homogeneity with minor deviance in osmotic fragility of Sahel goat erythrocytes in non-ionic sucrose media during various physiologic states.

BACKGROUND: Erythrocyte swelling in non-ionic sucrose media and the subsequent osmotic lysis are influenced by mechanisms of regulatory volume adjustment and osmotic water permeability. Kinetics of transmembrane water and ion fluxes in varied physiologic states may determine the phenotype of erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) and affect estimates of EOF. METHODS: Effects of sex, age, late pregnancy (third trimester) and lactation on the haemolysis of Sahel goat erythrocytes incubated in a series of hyposmotic non-ionic sucrose media were investigated. RESULTS: The fragiligram was sigmoidal in 72 (97%) out of 74 goats. Two male (3%) goats with low and high extreme median erythrocyte fragilities (MEF), had non-sigmoidal curves. The mean fragilities at osmolarities of 30-300 mosmol/L of sucrose and the mean osmolarities responsible for 10%-90% haemolysis (CH10-CH90) were not significantly different between males and non-pregnant dry (NPD) females, amongst the age groups and between pregnant or lactating and NPD female goats. The MEF (CH50) of the goats were at osmolarities of 126-252 mosmol/L (median of data: 171 mosmol/L) with a mean of 175.24±16.20 mosmol/L. Therefore, phenotypic homogeneity of EOF occurred with minor deviance, since EOF variables were not differentiated by sex, age, late pregnancy or lactation. CONCLUSIONS: Physiologic states of the goat did not affect EOF phenotype in non-ionic sucrose media. Sigmoidal fragility phenotype seemed to be homogeneously conserved by osmoregulatory mechanisms not partitioned by sex, age, late pregnancy or lactation, but a minor non-sigmoidal curve might have occurred due to altered erythrocyte osmotic behaviour that would require further investigation.

Phenotypic variations in osmotic lysis of Sahel goat erythrocytes in non-ionic glucose media.

BACKGROUND: Erythrocyte osmotic lysis in deionised glucose media is regulated by glucose influx, cation efflux, and changes in cell volume after water diffusion. Transmembrane fluxes may be affected by varied expression of glucose transporter protein and susceptibility of membrane proteins to glucose-induced glycosylation and oxidation in various physiologic states. METHODS: Variations in haemolysis of Sahel goat erythrocytes after incubation in hyposmotic non-ionic glucose media, associated with sex, age, late pregnancy, and lactation, were investigated. RESULTS: The osmotic fragility curve in glucose media was sigmoidal with erythrocytes from goats in late pregnancy (PRE) or lactation (LAC) or from kid (KGT) or middle-aged (MGT) goats. Non-sigmoidal phenotype occurred in yearlings (YGT) and old (OGT) goats. The composite fragility phenotype for males and non-pregnant dry (NPD) females was non-sigmoidal. Erythrocytes with non-sigmoidal curves were more stable than those with sigmoidal curves because of inflectional shift of the curve to the left. Erythrocytes tended to be more fragile with male than female sex, KGT and MGT than YGT and OGT, and LAC and PRE than NPD. Thus, sex, age, pregnancy, and lactation affected the haemolytic pattern of goat erythrocytes in glucose media. CONCLUSIONS: The physiologic state of the goat affected the in vitro interaction of glucose with erythrocytes, causing variations in osmotic stability with variants of fragility phenotype. Variations in the effect of high extracellular glucose concentrations on the functions of membrane-associated glucose transporter, aquaporins, and the cation cotransporter were presumed to be relevant in regulating the physical properties of goat erythrocytes under osmotic stress.

Influence of extracellular media's ionic strength on the osmotic stability of Sahel goat erythrocytes.

BACKGROUND: Heparinised blood was exposed to osmotic lysis in hypotonic buffered saline to evaluate erythrocyte membrane stability. When K3 EDTA blood was used, it added more to the ionic content of blood than heparin. The influence of suspending media's ionic strength on the osmotic stability of Sahel goat erythrocytes was investigated by replacing the ionic saline with non-ionic saccharide (sucrose or glucose) and assessing the effect of using EDTA blood instead of heparinised blood. RESULTS: The erythrocyte osmotic fragility curve in saline was hyperbolic even when the ionic concentration was reduced by 50% with saccharides. Haemolysis was higher with EDTA than heparinised blood at saline concentrations of 90 and 150-180 mosmol/L. The fragility curve was sigmoidal and shifted to the left when saline was completely substituted with a saccharide. The non-ionic saccharides increased erythrocyte osmotic resistance linearly (r=0.88; p<0.02) from median to minimal hyposmolarities (150-300 mosmol/L) and reduced the osmolyte concentration at median fragility by 36%. No effect occurred at <30-120 mosmol/L and >90% fragility; and saccharide concentrations were almost non-lytic at comparable saline concentrations evoking <10% haemolysis. Fragilities were neither affected by period (30-60 min) of incubation nor the type of saccharide used. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the variation in osmotic stability of caprine erythrocytes was linked to ionic strength of the suspending extracellular media which seemed to exert an influence through transmembrane ion fluxes and regulatory volume changes in erythrocytes.

Influence of zinc supplementation on histopathological changes in the stomach, liver, kidney, brain, pancreas and spleen during subchronic exposure of Wistar rats to glyphosate.

A subchronic toxicity study was carried out to determine the glyphosate-induced histopathological changes in the stomach, liver, kidney, brain, pancreas and spleen of rats and the attendant ameliorative effect when pretreated with zinc at the dose rate of 50 mg/kg body weight. The rats were exposed to two doses of the glyphosate (375 and 14.4 mg/kg body weight) for the period of 8 weeks which was the duration of the study, and some groups were exposed to the glyphosate after pretreatment with zinc. The histopathological changes recorded during the study were only in the rats exposed to the glyphosate at the dose rate of 375 mg/kg body weight except the vacuolation encountered in the brains and haemosiderosis in the spleens of rats exposed to zinc alone. Degenerated mucosal epithelial cells which involved the muscularis mucosa and the glands in the stomachs of rats were seen microscopically. Hepatic cells degeneration especially at the portal areas of the livers of rats was observed. The histopathological examination of the kidneys showed glomerular degeneration, mononuclear cells infiltration into the interstices of the tubules and tubular necrosis. The conspicuous changes seen in the brains were neuronal degeneration. Pancreatic acinar cells were degenerated while the spleen of the rats showed depopulated splenic cells in both the red and the white pulps. It was concluded that zinc supplementation in rats prior to glyphosate exposure ameliorated the histopathological changes observed in the stomach, liver, kidney, brain, pancreas and spleen with no observable alteration in the histoarchitecture in the organs of the zinc-supplemented rats.

Serum biochemical assessment of hepatic and renal functions of rats during oral exposure to glyphosate with zinc.

A subchronic toxicity study was carried out to assess hepatic and renal functions of rats during oral exposure to glyphosate with zinc for the period of 8 weeks. Forty-eight Wistar rats used for the study were randomized into six groups of eight Wistar rats each, and each group had equal number of male and female Wistar rats. The Wistar rats administered with distilled water at 2 ml/kg body weight served as the control group (DW); others were administered with zinc at 50 mg/kg body weight (Z) group, glyphosate at 375 mg/kg body weight (G) group, a combination of zinc and glyphosate at 50 and 375 mg/kg body weight, respectively (Z + G), group, glyphosate at 14.4 mg/kg body weight (GC) group, and a combination of zinc and glyphosate at 50 and 14.4 mg/kg body weight, respectively (Z + GC), group. At the end of the study, blood samples were collected from each rats; from which, sera samples were obtained and assayed for total protein, albumin, alanine and aspartate aminotransferases, alkaline phosphatase, Na+, K+, Cl-, [Formula: see text], Ca2+, [Formula: see text], urea and creatinine using autoanalyzer, and globulin was calculated. The albumin concentration was significantly high (p < 0.05) in GC group compared to DW group, and this change was ameliorated following supplementation with zinc. The total protein and globulin concentrations did not differ significantly between the groups (p > 0.05), and the relative changes were ameliorated by supplementation with zinc. The alkaline phosphatase activity was relatively low in GC group; however, supplementation with zinc in Z + GC group made it to be significantly high (p < 0.05) compared to GC group. The alanine and aspartate aminotransferases in G and GC groups were relatively high compared to DW group, which were ameliorated by supplementation with zinc. The relatively low Ca2+ concentration in G and GC groups compared to DW were ameliorated in Z + G group, and it was significantly high in Z + GC group at p < 0.01 compared to DW, p < 0.001 compared to G and GC groups and p < 0.05 compared to Z + G group. There were only slight changes in the electrolytes concentrations (Na+, K+, Cl-, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]), which were differentially ameliorated by zinc supplementation. The reasons for the various changes recorded were discussed. It was concluded that subchronic oral exposure to glyphosate caused both hepatic and renal functions toxicity in rats, which were ameliorated by zinc supplementation.

Pathological conditions associated with the male reproductive tract of the sahel bucks.

The study of pathological conditions of the male reproductive system is paramount to understanding reproductive inefficiency in the Sahel goat. In this study, 1048 Sahel bucks presented for slaughter at the Maiduguri metropolitan abattoir were evaluated for the presence of various pathological abnormalities of the reproductive system. A total incidence of 15.08% was recorded for various pathological conditions, with testicular, penile, and scrotal conditions having incidences of 7.82%, 4.80 and 2.50%, respectively. Bilateral testicular hypoplasia and atrophy and unilateral cryptorchidism accounted for incidences of 4.10%, 2.38%, and 1.24%, respectively, while paraphimosis and scrotal laceration had incidences of 1.72% and 1.05%, respectively. Age specific incidence of pathological conditions were not significant (P > 0.05) between bucks aged <1-1.5 and 2-2.5 years. However, bucks aged 3-3.5 year a had lower (P < 0.05) incidence of pathological conditions than other age groups. Histopathological evidence of inflammation, degeneration, and atrophy was observed in the testes, while inflammatory changes were observed in the prepuce.

The effect of aqueous extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa (Sorrel) calyces on heamatological profile and organ pathological changes in Trypanasoma congolense - infected rats.

The effects of aqueous extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces on haematology and pathological changes in some selected organs during experimental Trypanosoma congolense infection of rats were investigated. Three groups of rats were intraperitoneally infected with T. congolense (Karu stock). One group was administered with the aqueous extract and another given a solution of vitamin C in drinking water; the remaining infected group was left untreated. Data from these groups were compared with those of two groups of healthy rats, one of which was similarly treated with the aqueous extract. The experiment was terminated three weeks, post-infection (pi). The uninfected and infected rats administered the extract consumed the equivalent of 9.94 mg - and 9.61 mg ascorbic acid / 100g / day during the experiment. Consumption of the extract significantly (p<0.01) retarded the rate of weight gain in both healthy and infected rats; even though the feed-intake was not significantly affected. After two weeks of infection the extract and vitamin C kept the parasitaemia significantly (p<0.01) lower than the untreated infected group. The anaemia in the untreated infected group was significantly (p<0.01) more severe than that of the corresponding extract- or vitamin-treated groups. Trypanosoma congolense infection caused significant (p<0.01) decreases in serum total proteins and albumin; serum and organ ascorbic acid as well as significant (p<0.01) elevation of serum alanine amino transferase levels in untreated rats. Consumption of the extract or vitamin C, however, prevented these disease-induced anomalies in the treated infected rats. Serum creatinine and urea levels were not affected by infection but the extract elevated these parameters significantly (p<0.01) above infection levels. It was concluded that consumption of the extract ameliorated the pathological changes in blood and organs of T. congolense-infected rats.

The effect of aqueous extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa (Sorrel) calyces on heamatological profile and organ pathological changes in Trypanasoma congolense ­ infected rat

Abstract: The effects of aqueous extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces on haematology and pathological changes in some selected organs during experimental Trypanosoma congolense infection of rats were investigated. Three groups of rats were intraperitoneally infected with T. congolense (Karu stock). One group was administered with the aqueous extract and another given a solution of vitamin C in drinking water; the remaining infected group was left untreated. Data from these groups were compared with those of two groups of healthy rats, one of which was similarly treated with the aqueous extract. The experiment was terminated three weeks, post-infection (pi). The uninfected and infected rats administered the extract consumed the equivalent of 9.94 mg ­ and 9.61 mg ascorbic acid / 100g / day during the experiment. Consumption of the extract significantly (p<0.01) retarded the rate of weight gain in both healthy and infected rats; even though the feed-intake was not significantly affected. After two weeks of infection the extract and vitamin C kept the parasitaemia significantly (p<0.01) lower than the untreated infected group. The anaemia in the untreated infected group was significantly (p<0.01) more severe than that of the corresponding extract- or vitamin-treated groups. Trypanosoma congolense infection caused significant (p<0.01) decreases in serum total proteins and albumin; serum and organ ascorbic acid as well as significant (p<0.01) elevation of serum alanine amino transferase levels in untreated rats. Consumption of the extract or vitamin C, however, prevented these disease­induced anomalies in the treated infected rats. Serum creatinine and urea levels were not affected by infection but the extract elevated these parameters significantly (p<0.01) above infection levels. It was concluded that consumption of the extract ameliorated the pathological changes in blood and organs of T. congolense-infected rats