The Comparison of DNA Damage, Cognitive State, Psychological Disorders, Clinical Symptom, and Oxidative Stress in Farmers Exposed In Organophosphate Pesticide and Control Group And To Determine the Relationship between Them

Abstract

Melatonin is an important modulator of nervous system functioning and important neural antioxidant. Organo- phosphate pesticides like phosphamidon (PHOS) have been shown to adversely affect memory and induce oxida- tive stress on both acute and chronic exposure. This study was designed to explore the modulation of the effects of PHOS on cognitive function by melatonin (MEL). Cognitive function was assessed using step-down latency (SDL) on a passive avoidance apparatus and transfer latency (TL) on an elevated plus maze. Oxidative stress was as- sessed by examining the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nonprotein thiols (NP-SH) in isolated homogenized whole brain samples. The results showed a significant reduction in SDL and prolongation of TL in the PHOS (1.74 mg/kg/day; p.o.)-treated group at weeks 6 and 8 as compared to the control group. Two-week treatment with MEL (5 mg/kg/day; i.p.) antagonized the effect of PHOS on SDL as well as TL. PHOS alone produced a significant increase in the brain MDA levels and decrease in the brain NP-SH levels. Treatment with MEL attenuated the ef- fect of PHOS on oxidative stress. Together the results showed that MEL attenuated the cognitive dysfunction and decreased oxidative stress induced by PHOS in the brain. The aim of this study was to compare toxicity of organo- phosphate (OP) pesticides in exposed farmers and control group in terms of oxidative stress, acetylcholinesterase. A causal -comparative cross sectional analysis was done in 40 horticulture farmers who have been exposed OPs in comparison to a control group containing 40 healthy subjects with the same age and sex and education level