Effect of Paraquat toxicity on lung and kidney organs on histopathological image assessment

Background: Paraquat is one of the active ingredients of the gramoxone type herbicide, which has very high toxicity so that it can cause poisoning and death. Paraquat causes direct cell damage by producing free radicals, which can cause pulmonary fibrosis and kidney failure. This study aims to analyze the effects of paraquat toxicity on the lungs and kidneys on histopathological features. Methods: This research is an experimental research post-test only control group design. The research subjects used stored biological material in the form of 12 lung and kidney organ samples from white rats (Rattus norvegicus) that had been treated in previous research, which were divided into 2 groups, namely the negative control group (P1, given distilled water), the positive control group (P2; given paraquat 0.01 gr/kgBW [single dose intraperitoneal]). All samples of stored biological material were made for lung and kidney preparations. The lung condition was assessed using the American Thoracic Society criteria, and the kidneys were evaluated using the Mitchell criteria with the help of the ImageJ application. Data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney test. Results: The Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant difference in lung damage scores between groups with a p-value of 0.01 (p <0.005). The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test of the kidneys showed substantial differences in glomerular and proximal tubular damage scores between groups with p values ​​of 0.004 and 0.009 (p <0.005). The results of the Mann-Whitney test also showed significant differences between groups P1 and P2 with a lung p value = 0.008 (p> 0.005) and kidney p = 0.009 (p > 0.005). Conclusion: In this study, it can be concluded that induction of paraquat 0.01 gr/kgBW causes changes in the histopathological appearance of the lungs and kidneys of white rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the form of lung and kidney damage as assessed by histopathological scores.