Biochemical and histological alterations induced by the smoke of allethrin based mosquito coil on mice model

BACKGROUND Mosquito coil (MC) emits insecticide upon burning which provides limited protection against lethal mosquito borne diseases. However, apart from killing the insect, toxicities associated with the inhalation of these insecticides poses severe health hazards. However, the use of MC is increasing day by day in third world countries in particular but, yet to receive enough attention of both policy maker and general public. The current study was aimed to assess the MC smoke induced damage of pulmonary and hepatic tissues along with observing the alterations of several blood biochemical parameters in mice model. METHODS A total of twenty four Swiss albino mice were allowed to inhale the smoke of allethrin based MC at different duration per day for 120 days. By the end of treatment period, blood sample was drawn from each mouse and blood biochemical parameters including alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), blood urea nitrogen(BUN), serum total protein, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and triglyceride (TG) were analyzed. Intact lung and liver were collected for histological analysis using standard protocol. RESULTS Biochemical study indicates elevated activity of two hepatic enzymes: ALT (89%), AST (85%), in comparison with the respective control. Increased level of some parameters of lipid profile including cholesterol (36%), LDL (48%) and triglyceride (30%) in smoke inhaled mice is the new finding of this study. On the contrary, the activity of serum total protein and BUN was decreased by 20% and 24%, respectively in inhaled mice. Pulmonary tissue of treated mice shows severe forms of emphysema and hyperplasia, especially in the peripheral region of lung, which is the hallmark of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Histological study of hepatic tissue shows apoptosis mediated damage of hepatocytes along with severe form of necrosis. Infiltration of Inflammatory cells was also observed in both of the organs. CONCLUSION Results from the present studies suggest that chronic exposure of allethrin based MC is responsible factor for severe health complications such as COPD due to the alterations of the key biochemical parameters of blood and histo-organization of lung and liver.