Assessments of the Safety of Arsenicals on Dyslipidaemia and Reproductive Organ Morphology of Albino Rats

Abstract

Epidemiological studies have implicated Arsenic (As) an environmental toxicant in the etiology of many diseases which have been associated with dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular abnormalities. This study investigated the comparative effect of sub-chronic exposure to two arsenicals on the lipid profiles and morphology of the reproductive organs. Fifty albino rats were divided into five groups of 10 animals each (5 male and 5 female) were exposed to different doses of arsenic (As) either as sodium arsenite or sodium arsenate for 5 weeks. Lipids [triacylglycerol (TAG), cholesterol (CHOL) and phospholipids (PHOS)] concentrations were determined in the plasma, lipoprotein fractions, hepatic, renal, cardiac and brain tissues. In the male rats’ tissues, both arsenicals generally elicited a hormetic response, while in the tissues of female rats; both arsenicals increased the CHOL concentration. Furthermore, the perturbations in TAG concentration in female animals did not follow any regular pattern; although, depletion of TAG characterized these arsenic-induced perturbations in male rats except in the kidney, where TAG was accumulated. The arsenicals generally increased PHOS concentration in exposed animals irrespective of the sex. While HDL-TAG and HDL-CHOL concentrations were significantly reduced in As-exposed groups, changes observed in VLDL+LDL-TAG and VLDL+LDL-CHOL varied with no regular pattern. Histopathology of the sex organs revealed altered morphology in arsenite-exposed rats. Results from this study further associated these arsenicals as potential agents that can cause dyslipidaemia in tissues and also possess the ability to alter the architecture of sex organs in albino rats