Assessment of the Toxic Potential of Carbosulfan in Rats Following Subchronic Treatment

The effect of Carbosulfan (CB), a carbamate insecticide which has been used widely in agriculture, was investigated using wistar rat. Carbosulfan was administered orally at sublethal concentration at a dose of 25 mg/kg to 12 male rats ad libitum during the tests for 30 days consecutively. The effect of CB on hematological constituent [Red Blood Corpuscules (RBC), White Blood Corpuscules (WBC), Mean Cell Volume (MCV), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC), platelet (PLT) Hemoglobin (HGB) and Hematocrit (HCT) levels] and serum damage marker enzymes [aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanin aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)] of rats were investigated under laboratory conditions .Body weight, organ weight, cellularity of spleen, spleen cell subtypes, cytokine production and lymphocyte proliferation assay were also studied. CB treatments caused different effects on the hematological constituents and the serum marker enzymes of the treatment groups as compared to the controls. Results showed that CB-treated group had a significantly lower RBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH and MCHC and significantly higher WBC and PLT. Also, serum marker enzymes were affected by CB. For example, ALT, ALP, creatinine and urea significantly increased in rats treated with CB. Our data showed that CB at 25 mg/kg/day could suppress cellular activity of the immune system. At this dose, CB significantly decreased the proliferation response to PHA and the production of IFN gamma and IL-4.