Clinico-behavioral, hepato-renal, erythrocytic, and genotoxicity induced by sub-chronic oral doses of acetochlor in male Japanese quail.

Acetochlor is one of the well-known and frequently used herbicides that acts as a potent endocrine disruptor. Still, there is a scarcity of studies examining the adverse effects of acetochlor on birds. Therefore, this study evaluated the behavioral alterations, oxidative stress, antioxidant enzymes, genotoxicity and histopathological impacts of subchronic oral doses of acetochlor in quails. A total of 80 male quails were procured and reared in four groups (A-D) for 45 days. Group A served as the control, while the birds reared in groups B, C and D received 20 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg acetochlor on daily basis, respectively, for 45 days. Different clinical and behavioral signs were observed in quails exposed to higher doses of acetochlor. The quantity of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), and catalase (CAT), was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) in treated birds compared to normal/untreated birds. The values of oxidative stress parameters like lipid peroxidase (LPO) increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) in the liver of Japanese quails exposed to higher concentrations of acetochlor. Significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased values of DNA damage in isolated hepatocytes, enterocytes, and cells of the kidneys were recorded in acetochlor-treated quails. Results on the formation of micronuclei in erythrocytes revealed significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher percentile rate in birds treated with higher concentrations of herbicide compared to untreated birds. At the histopathological level, various microscopic lesions like necrosis, disorganization, and disruption of hepatic cords in the liver, degeneration of renal tubular cells, widening of urinary space, necrosis of renal tubules in the kidneys, and degeneration and depletion of splenic cells in the spleen of quails were examined. The results of this research highlighted that Acetochlor induces different pathological ailments in Japanese quail even at sub-chronic oral doses.