Thirty-day oral exposure to acetamiprid induces biochemical and histological alterations in rat pancreas: protective effects of carnosine supplementation

Acetamiprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide used against various insect pests. Serious concerns are emerging regarding their adverse effects on non-target organisms and organs. This study aimed to investigate the mechanistic toxic effect of oral administration of acetamiprid at 21.7 and 43.4 mg/kg body weight on the histological structure and pancreatic function of male Wistar rats and the potential effect of carnosine in mitigating this toxicity for 30 consecutive days. Thirty-six animals were divided into six groups: the control group received distilled water, the second group received 200 mg/kg body weight of carnosine, two groups received 21.7 and 43.4 mg/kg of acetamiprid, and two groups received 21.7 and 43.4 mg/kg + 200 kg/kg body weight of acetamiprid and carnosine, respectively. Acetamiprid caused a significant decrease in body weight (<i>p</i> < 0.001), pancreatic somatic index (<i>p</i> < 0.001), and amylase level (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.0001) and increased lipase level (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.0001), blood glucose level (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.0001), histological scores (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.01), and malondialdehyde level (0.01<<i>p</i> < 0.0001). Administration of carnosine led to a slight improvement in the increase of lipase (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.01) and the decrease of amylase (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.001) secretions and prevention of histopathological features induced by acetamiprid. Our results pointed out for the first time the toxic effect of acetamiprid and the preventive effect of carnosine on rat pancreatic structure and function.