Characterization and in-vivo toxicological evaluation of imidacloprid nanoemulsion in rats

Acute pesticide poisoning is an important public health problem worldwide and accounts for a significant number of deaths occurring each year. The present article aimed to investigate toxic effects of imidacloprid (IMD) nanoemulsion formulated using ultrasound dispersion technique, and characterized using FTIR, TEM anddynamic light scattering in adult rats. The synthesized Nano-emulsion droplets are mainly spherical in shape and their sizes ranged between (19nm –128 nm) with zeta potential of −38.8± 0.mV. Also, The median lethal dose (LD50) of nano imidacloprid in rats was 39 mg/kg body weight. Administration of different doses of 3, 1.4 and 0.8 mg.kg mg/kg b.wt. of IMD Nano emulsion to rats for 21 days, adversely affects the body weight and weight gain, and resulted in a significant increase in serum serum ALT, AST activities , glucose, Creatinine, urea and cholesterol concentrations, as well as reduced serum total proteins, Albumin and globulin as compared to control rats. The results clearly suggest that treatment with IMD nanoemulsion adversely affects the liver & kidney functions which confirmed by the histopathological findings. Nanoemulsion form and also increases the DNA damage as confirmed by the comet test