Evaluation of Toxic Effect of D-alletrin Based Mosquito’s Coil on the Lungs and Selected Haematological Parameters of Adult Wistar Rats

Abstract

The effect of inhaling mosquito coil smoke on the haematology and histology of rat’s lungs was studied. Mosquito coils while slowly burning emit smoke containing one or more insecticides, each coil burns for several hours and are used in close proximity to persons requiring protection against mosquitoes in order to prevent malaria, a disease of wide distribution. This study is aimed at determining the effects of mosquito coil on lungs of adult wistar rats. A total of 16 adult wistar rats were used in this study weighing 100g – 200g. They were randomly divided into four groups of four rats each. Rats in group 1 served as control and received only food and distilled water; while the experimental groups II – IV were exposed to mosquito coil smoke for 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours respectively for a period of 28 days. At the end of the experimental period, blood was collected from each rat through ocular puncture for blood analysis. The rats were sacrificed with the lungs harvested and fixed in 10% formal saline for routine histological analysis. The body weight of the exposed groups observed showed insignificant decrease when compared with the control group. The organ weight of lungs showed significant increase when compared to the control group. Haematological analysis for blood obtained revealed a significant (p<0.05) increase in Hb, PCV, RBC and WBC counts in all exposure groups when compared with the control group. Histological analysis of the lungs showed severe hemorrhage and severe inflammation of the lungs. Results from this study demonstrates that mosquito coil smoke not only challenges the immune system but also affects the blood oxygen regulation level through damage in the lungs.