PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF MELISSA PLANT EXTRACT AND ACTIVATED CARBON AGAINST SOME PESTICIDES TOXICITY AND ITS IMPACT ON REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTIONS IN RATS

Abstract

Malathion is a nonsystemic, wide-spectrum pesticide in the organophosphate chemical family, most widely used throughout the world. It is one of the earliest organophosphate pesticides introduced in the 1950s. It is used widely for agricultural, residential and public health purposes, providing enhancement in food production and protection from disease vectors. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, malathion is one of the most commonly used insecticides in the United States, with an estimated use of 30 million pounds a year. Toxicity of malathion is compounded by its metabolites and also depends upon the product purity, route of exposure, amount of protein in the diet and gender. Malaoxon, the metabolite produced by the oxidation of malathion in mammals, insects and plants, is the primary source of malathion’s toxicity and it is 40 times more acutely toxic than malathion. Numerous malathion poisoning incidents such as acute and chronic cases have occurred among pesticide workers and small children through accidental exposure. According to the World Health Organization, the occurrence of pesticide-related poisonings has doubled over the past ten years due to their widespread use. The present results indicated that rats treated with malathion showed a significant increase in the activity of alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase triglycerides and levels of uric acid, creatinine and urea. In context rats treated with malathion showed a significant decrease in superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase and a significant increase in malondialdehyde in liver and kidneys. Furthermore, malathion caused a significant decrease in abnormal sperm morphology, abnormal sperm morphology and sperm motility (%) in malathion treated group. Also malathion caused a significant decrease in serum luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone and testosterone compared with control group. Animals treated with malathion plus melissa officinalis extract showed a significant improvement in all tested parameter and elimination of the harmful effects of malathion in all biochemical, antioxidant parameters and the histological picture of liver, kidney and testis. The results indicated that sorbent agent is good adsorbent that can efficiently remove ML from aqueous media. Moreover the results showed that activated carbon and its nano-particales succeeded in removal malathion from aqueous solution, nano-particales activated carbon showed more effective than activated carbon in adsorption malathion in aqueous solution.

Keywords: Malathion. Melissa officinalis L. Activated Carbon Toxicity, Reproductive Toxicology.