Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Abbreviations: OTA, ochratoxin-a; HR, hour; PPM, parts-per million; B.Wt., body weight; RBC, red blood cell; Hb, hemoglobin; PCV, packed cell volume; TLC, total leukocyte count; DLC, differential leukocyte count; MCV, mean corpuscular volume; MCH, mean corpuscular hemoglobin; MCHC, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate transaminase Introduction Contamination of agricultural produce by pesticides and/or mycotoxins can result in severe problems both for human health as well as the economic value of crops. Mycotoxins are fungal metabolites produced by several molds that contaminate various agricultural commodities during crop production, or in storage, where drying technology may be preventative. Ochratoxin-A (OTA), produced by several species of genera Aspergillus and Penicillium is a common contaminant of different food or feedstuffs which can cause toxicities in human beings and animals. 1 OTA can result in several deleterious health effects causing – neurotoxicity, 2 nephrotoxicity, 3 genotoxicity, 4 immunotoxicity, 5 carcinogenicity 6 and teratogenicity 7,8 in various mammalian species. Occurrence of OTA has also been reported in humans’ serum, breast milk and kidneys suggesting its public health signifcance. 9 Pesticides are used to protect crops from damage caused by pests including molds and pathogens. Exposure of the general population to pesticides can occur by direct application to food commodities (to increase their shelf-life) and/or through drinking water contaminated with pesticide residues. 10 At low level many pesticides have potential toxic effects on non-target organisms and may interfere with the endocrine system. 11 Endosulfan is one of the most commonly used organochlorine pesticides, which is lipophilic in nature. Because of its persistence in the environment, its usage has been banned in most developed countries. However, it is still being used in the developing countries because of its availability through illegal importation. 12 The perused literature showed some information on the contamination OTA and endosulfan in adult male rats, 4,13 but reports on their toxic effects in animals are limited. Moreover, no report could be traced in the literature on the combined effect of OTA and endosulfan in male rats, although both may occur as co-contaminants under feld conditions in certain areas. It is with this view that this study was carried out to investigate the combined toxic effects of endosulfan and OTA on the hematological and biochemical indices of male rats. Materials and methods Production and analysis of Ochratoxin-A A pure culture of Aspergillus ochraceus NRRL-3174 originally procured from National Centre for Agriculture Research (NCAUR-3174) Peoria, Illinois, USA was grown on sterilized maize as per the method described by Trenk et al. 14 The extraction and clean up of the toxin sample was done as per the method of AOAC. 15 Cultured maize powder containing known amount of OTA was added to basal ration in such a proportion that the fnal concentration of OTA was adjusted to 4 ppm level in the feed. 13 Animals and experimental design: Male Wistar rats (n=40) with average weight 160±10g were procured from Laboratory Animal Resource Section of Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India. Animals were housed in polypropylene cages in an artifcially illuminated room (12-hr light: 12-hr dark cycle) free from any source of chemical contamination. The temperature and relative humidity of the room were maintained at 22±3°C and about MOJ Toxicol. 2015;1(3):96‒101. 96 © 2015 Kumar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Toxic manifestation of endosulfan and ochratoxin- a in adult male rats Volume 1 Issue 3 - 2015 Shashi Nandar Kumar, 1 Avinash Gopal Telang, 2 Karam Pal Singh, 2 Banajit Bastia, 1 Arun Kumar Jain 1 1 Department of Environmental Toxicology, National Institute of Pathology (ICMR), India 2 Centre for Animal Disease Research and Diagnosis (CADRAD), Indian Veterinary Research Institute, India Correspondence: Arun Kumar Jain, Department of Environmental Toxicology, National Institute of Pathology (ICMR), Safdarjung Hospital Campus, New Delhi-110029, India, Tel +91 11 26198402, Fax +91 11 26198401, Email drakjain@gmail.com Received: May 15, 2014 | Published: July 29, 2015 Abstract The study examined effects of Ochratoxin-A (OTA) and Endosulfan on the haemato- biochemical changes in rats. Adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups and fed OTA @ 4ppm in feed (Group I); endosulfan @ 5mg/kg body weight in corn oil by oral intubation (Group II); combination of both endosulfan @ 5mg/kg body weight in corn oil and OTA @ 4ppm in feed (Group III) and toxin free feed (Group IV – control group) daily for 30 days. After treatment, blood was collected from heart for studying haemato- biochemical indices. All toxin treated rats showed a signifcant (P<0.05) decrease in the body weights. The treated rats became anemic (normocytic hypochromic anemia) and also revealed lympho cytopenic-leukopenia. Biochemical changes included signifcant decline in, serum globulin, total protein and albumin along with concurrent increased levels of blood glucose, AST and ALT. Spleen of the treated animals showed depletion of lymphocytes on light microscopy. The present investigation revealed signifcant toxicity in combination group in comparison to single exposure to OTA or endosulfan alone (Group I and Group II, respectively). These fndings suggest that concurrent exposure to endosulfan and OTA results in additive toxic manifestation on haemato-biochemical parameters in male rats. Keywords: ochratoxin-a (ota), endosulfan, normocytic normochromic anemia, lymphocytopenia, leucopenia MOJ Toxicology Research Article Open Access