Assessment of the effect of gasoline fume on stress hormones, antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation in albino rat

Gasoline fume has been considered a major air pollutant affecting the heart, lungs, brain, liver and kidneys. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the effect of inhalation exposure to gasoline fume on some endogenic stress hormones and oxidative enzymes of albino rats. Forty adult male albino rats were randomly assigned to five experimental treatments (T) with eight rats per treatment (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5). The control treatment, T1 was housed in a section of experimental animal house free from gasoline fumes while T2, T3, T4 and T5 were exposed to gasoline fumes in exposure chambers for one, three, five and nine hours daily respectively for twelve weeks. The levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), aldosterone and corticosterone were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Concentrations of oxidative stress marker (GSH, CAT, MDA and BuChE) were assayed using standard method. Levels of ACTH were recorded to significantly reduce in the gasoline fume exposed rats when compared to control. Aldosterone and corticosterone significantly increase with increase in the daily period of gasoline fume exposure relative to the control. Values of ACTH negatively correlate with those of corticosterone and aldosterone in the exposed rats. The values of GSH, CAT and BuChE were significantly higher in the control rats and significantly reduce with increasing daily exposure time to gasoline fume. MDA concentration was lower in control rats but significantly increased with increasing daily exposure time to gasoline fume. Inhalation exposure to gasoline fume was observed to induce stress in the exposed animals.