HUMORAL IMMUNE RESPONSE TO ACETAMIPRID EXPOSURE AND ITS MODULATION BY SUPPLEMENTATION WITH VITAMIN C IN RATS

Acetamiprid (AP) is a fairly new neonicotinoid insecticide. Its
indiscriminate use both in agriculture and domestic areas against
wide range of pests such as aphids and whiteflies is causing toxicity
to man and animals. In recent years the effects of insecticides on
immune response have received more attention. The present study
was designed to evaluate the toxic effect of repeated oral (by gavage)
administration of AP over six weeks on humoral immune response.
Forty eight adult male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four
groups (12 animals each). Animals of the 1st group were untreated
and served as control , rats of the 2nd group were orally given 1/ 10
LD50 (83.18 mg/ kg b. wt.) , animals of the 3rd group were
administered orally vitamin C alone at a dose level of 200mg / kg
b.wt, every other day for six weeks , rats of the 4th group were given
AP similar to those of the 2nd group then administered orally with
vitamin C similar to those of the 3rd group 30 minutes after each AP
administration. At day one after the end of experiment , eight rats
were picked up randomly from each group , blood samples were
collected from each animal under slight ether anaethesia through
heart puncture into plain vaccutainer tubes and sera were separated.
Data obtained revealed that oral AP administration into rats induced
a non significant increase in IgM level ; significant decrease and 
increase in IgG and IL – 6 levels respectively as compared to the
control values. Supplementation with vitamin C potentiated
significantly the effect of AP on IgM , WBCs count , monocytes and
lymphocytes percentage , and reduced significantly its effects on IgG
and IL-6. These data indicate that AP is capable of inducing
changes in humoral immunity that could be selectively modulated
by supplementation with vitamin C.