摘要：The adverse effects of spraying pesticides to the ecosystem are being widely studied. While the effects of their oral and topical exposure have been reported, especially on carbohydrate metabolism, the effects of inhalational exposure have not been reported. Hence, this study was undertaken to investigate the effects of malathion, a commonly used pesticide, on blood glucose and antioxidant status in rats. In acute study, 8 groups of 6 animals each were exposed to 50% malathion for 5 min. Blood glucose level was estimated for all the rats before exposure and at 5, 10, 20, 30, 60 120, 180 and 240 min after exposure for groups 1 to 8, respectively. Blood glucose increased from the basal level of 88 mg dL-1, reached 131 mg dL-1 in 60 min and attained basal level at 240 min. In sub chronic study, there were two groups of 6 animals each control and test. Test group was exposed to malathion vapours for 5 min every day for 28 days. Glucose level was estimated on days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 for both groups. The base line value of 93 mg dL-1 increased to 178 mg dL-1 on day 28 in test group. Test animals also showed weight loss of 9.2% and significant reduction of anti oxidants level compared to control group. Thus acute malathion exposure has caused transient hyperglycemia and sub chronic exposure, progressive hyperglycemia (p<0.05) and weight loss. In conclusion, sub chronic malathion exposure causes progressive hyperglycemia which can be a risk factor for diabetes.
