Protective effects of intravenous lipid emulsion on malathion-induced hepatotoxicity

OBJECTIVE: Organophosphates including malathion can be ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin, but it may be a maximum of acute toxicity when administered by oral intake. Intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE) treatment is used as a new treatment method in cases of systemic toxicity caused by local anesthetics. This study was aimed to examine the potential treatment effect of intravenous lipid emulsion on rat liver tissue in the toxicity of malathion. METHODS: Twenty-one Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into three equal groups. The groups were organized as Group I (control), Group II (malathion) and Group III (malathion + lipid emulsion treatment). Liver tissues were examined histologically, and immunohistochemical analysis was performed to determine the bax, bcl-2, and caspase-3 expression levels. RESULTS: A decrease of PAS positive staining cells, and an increase of liver enzymes, formation of degenerative changes and apoptotic cell deaths occurred in the malathion group. Additionally, a decrease of apoptosis and hepatic parenchymal damage was observed in the malathion + lipid emulsion treatment group. CONCLUSION: The findings from our study suggested that lipid emulsion treatment had a protective efficacy on the malathion induced liver toxicity (Fig. 5, Ref. 30).