Abstract

Heavy metals and antiretroviral drugs are both types of xenobiotics that induce disturbances in the body. This study aims to assess the hematological and body weight changes connected to simultaneous exposure to lead and Efavirenz. Twenty-eight rats equally divided into four groups were force-fed once daily with distilled water (G_(Ctrl)), lead acetate at 10 mg/kg (G_(Pb)), Efavirenz at 20 mg/kg (G_(Efv)) and lead acetate+Efavirenz (G_(Pb+Efv)). On Day 0, Day 14 and Day 28, the rats were weighted and retro-orbital blood collection was carried out for haemogram analysis. Results showed a significant decrease in hemoglobin level, haematocrit, erythrocytes and thrombocytes in G_(Pb) and G_(Pb+Efv). This anaemia has tended to be normocytic hypochromic. There was no significant difference in the rates of decrease between G_(Pb) and G_(Pb+Efv). No significant change was observed in the erythrocyte parameters in G_(Efv) and G_(Ctrl). The mean body weight of rats was significantly increased in G_(Ctrl) already from Day 7 while in G_(Efv), it is at from 21 day that, the weighty growth reached a significant level. There was no significant increase in body weight growth in G_(Pb) and G_(Pb+Efv). In conclusion, contrary to lead, Efavirenz has not induced anaemia but it has slowed the body growth with a less intensity than lead. The co-administration of lead and Efavirenz did not induced significant additive effects comparatively to lead administration alone. Further studies are necessary for verifying whether co-exposure to these two xenobiotics for a longer period would not be likely to induce a significantly higher toxicity.

Highlights

  • Several recent studies worldwide evoke an outbreak of the environmental factors having negative impacts on the human health

  • Its toxicity is more pronounced among people vulnerable to deficiencies in antioxidant (Saka et al, 2011), probably in People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus who are endlessly exposed to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) with their toxic effects (Adikwu et al, 2013; World Health Organization, 2010)

  • This saturnine anaemia may be explained by the lead ability to decrease heme biosynthesis by inhibiting enzymatic activity of aminolevulinic acid dehydratase, ferrochelatase (Saka et al, 2011; Ashour et al, 2006; Gürer et al, 1998) and aminolevulinic acid synthetase (Saxena and Flora, 2004; White and Harvey, 1972)

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Summary

Introduction

Several recent studies worldwide evoke an outbreak of the environmental factors having negative impacts on the human health. Lead is object of big concerns because of its high potential of bioaccumulation and bioamplification in the trophic chain (Vighi, 1981; Dallinger et al, 1987). It was found at higher levels than maximum allowable limits in foodstuffs such as cereals (Fangnon et al, 2012), vegetables (Koumolou et al, 2013), halieutic products (Guédénon et al, 2012) as well as in drinking water (Elégbédé et al, 2012) and herbal preparations (Arpadjan et al, 2008; Annan et al, 2010). Its toxicity is more pronounced among people vulnerable to deficiencies in antioxidant (Saka et al, 2011), probably in People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus who are endlessly exposed to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) with their toxic effects (Adikwu et al, 2013; World Health Organization, 2010)

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