Biochemical and histological alterations in liver following sub chronic exposure of arsenic

Objective: Contamination of groundwater with arsenic is of global concern. The present work was aimed to evaluate the biochemical and histological changes in liver of female rats induced by sodium arsenite at doses naturally found in groundwater of Punjab. Method: Twenty four female rats were divided into four groups of 6 animals each. Group I animals received distilled water and served as control; Group II-IV received arsenic at the dose of 10, 30 and 50 ppb (μg/L) dissolved in distilled water ad libitum for 30 days. At the end of experiment, animals were sacrificed and liver was collected for biochemical and histological evaluation. Results: Biochemical analysis showed an increase in the activity of hepatic marker enzymes including transferases, phosphatases and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Also, the levels of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, reduced glutathione and glutathione-S-transferase) decreased significantly (P