ACUTE EFFECTS OF 3,4-DICHLOROANILINE ON BLOOD OF MALE WISTAR RATS

In this work we investigated the acute effects of 3,4-dichloroaniline (DCA) on the changes of specific biochemical and cellular blood parame ters using male Wistar rats, 24 hours after the intraperitoneal admini stration of five different doses of DCA (0, 81, 162, 324, 486, and 568 mg/Kg of body weight). We also evaluated the dose-dependent toxicity of DCA on the ratio ''organ weight: total body weight'' for kidney, li ver, spleen and thymus, and on the changes of morphological characteri stics of the spleen. The LOEL (lowest observed effect level) value for spleen and thymus injury was 324 mg DCA/Kg. The cellular blood parame ters affected by DCA include: methemoglobin concentration, the number of circulating leukocytes and the number and size of platelets. The re lative sensitivity of all the analysis used to assess the acute toxici ty of DCA was evaluated by comparing their ED50 values, which ranged f rom 224 to 837 mg DCA/Kg. We concluded that the most sensitive endpoin t to measure the acute toxicity of DCA was the methemoglobin formation . Platelet counts, urea and creatinine showed ED50 values slightly hig her than methemoglobin (329 - 367 mg/Kg). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Lt d. All rights reserved.