Evaluation of the camel milk amelioration, the oxidative stress, fertility and mutagenicity of male albino rats exposed to lead acetate, fipronil, and their mixture

Abstract

Lead is considered a common old chronic toxicant around the world due to expanded environmental pollution, it is likely an inevitable contaminant in food, dairy products, air etc. Also, fipronil is a wide-ranging effective N-phenyl pyrazole insecticide which used commonly in agriculture and public health insect control, but until now no adequate data are available on the oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, and mutagenic influence of fipronil and lead or their mixture subchronic exposure. Both xenobiotics (lead and fipronil) exert a harmful impact on reproduction, prompting the exploration of various foods for functional protection. The present study investigated the effects of camel milk treatments on reproductive problems caused by lead acetate with or without mixing with fipronil in male albino rats. Liver oxidative stress, testicular relative weight, sperm analysis, investigation of chromosomal aberration, and histopathological examination of testis were performed. The results showed that the oxidative stress was elevated in rats treated with fipronil, lead acetate, and their mixture, which were reduced through camel milk treatments. Sperm counts were decreased significantly in lead and/or fipronil exposure but significantly elevated with camel milk intoxicated treated. Sperm morphological abnormalities and chromosomal aberrations in intoxicated groups were reduced significantly in camel milk-treated animals relative to untreated intoxicated groups. Testicular histopathological results showed moderate common degeneration of seminiferous tubules in lead and/or fipronil-intoxicated rats which were ameliorated by camel milk treatments. Generally, it can be concluded that lead and fipronil together in a mixture resulted in or induced severe reproductive problems and oxidative stress over lead or fipronil alone. Camel milk treatment significantly decreased the harmful oxidative stress in reproductive as well as the mutagenicity disorder associated with lead and fipronil exposure in male albino rats.

Keywords: camel milk; chromosomal aberration; fipronil; histopathology; lead; oxidative stress; sperm.

FIGURE 1

Histopathological structure of testis tissues of male albino rats. (a) Normal healthy control (G1). (b) Normal healthy rats treated with camel milk (G2). (c) Fipronil intoxicated control (G3). (d) Fipronil intoxicated rats treated with camel milk (G4). (e) Lead acetate intoxicated control (G5). (f) Lead acetate intoxicated rats treated with camel milk (G6). (g) Lead + fipronil mixture intoxicated control (G7). (h) Lead + fipronil mixture intoxicated rats treated with camel milk (G8).