Biochemical and histopathological assessment of transgenic cowpea in male Wistar rats

Abstract

Cowpea is one of the most consumed legumes in Africa. Recombinant DNA technology has been used to insert foreign genes into plants genome thereby creating a new generation of plants with desired traits. Such plants possess improved seed quality, yield and resistance to pests and pathogens. The aim of this work is to assess the safety profile of an improved variety of cowpea by examining its effect on the liver and kidney.Native cowpea and improved variety of cowpea, IT89KD, were fed to Wistar rats which were divided into 3 groups. One group was fed poultry feed with 50% native cowpea and the second group was fed poultry feed with 50% improved cowpea variety while the control group was fed standard rat chow. At the end of 40 days feeding period, improved varieties group were found to have higher protein content than normal variety. Also, there was elevation in the following liver enzymes, Alanine Transaminase (ALT), Aspartate transaminase (AST) and bilirubin in the group fed with improved variety. The presence of black arrowheads and inflammation in liver and kidneys of rats fed with Genetically Modified(GM)cowpea was observed. This suggests that caution should be applied in the use of GM Cowpea as feed for Wistar rats and food for man.