Cartap hydrochloride induced stress response in Anabaena variabilis ARM 441

Amelioration of Hepatotoxic and Neurotoxic Effect of Cartap by Aloe vera in Wistar Rats

Pesticide exposure can pose a serious risk to nontarget animals. Cartap is being broadly used in agricultural fields. The toxic effects of cartap on the levels of hepatotoxicity and neurotoxicity have not been properly studied in mammalian systems. Therefore, the present work focused on the effect of cartap on the liver and brain of Wistar rats and made an assessment of the ameliorating potential of A. vera. The experimental animals were divided into 4 groups, comprising six rats in each: Group 1-Control; Group 2-A. vera; Group 3-Cartap; and Group 4-A. vera + Cartap. The animals orally given cartap and A. vera were sacrificed after 24 h of the final treatment and histological and biochemical investigations were conducted in liver and brain of Wistar rats. Cartap at sublethal concentrations caused substantial decreases in CAT, SOD, and GST levels in the experimental rats. The activity levels of transaminases and phosphatases in cartap group were also found to be substantially altered. The AChE activity was recorded as decreasing in RBC membrane and brain of the cartap-treated animals. The TNF-α and IL-6 level in serum were increased expressively in the cartap challenged groups. Histological investigation of liver showed disorganized hepatic cords and severely congested central veins due to cartap. However, the A. vera extract was observed to significantly protect against the effects of cartap toxicity. The protective impact of A. vera against cartap toxicity may be due to the existence of antioxidants in it. These findings suggest that A. vera may be developed as a potential supplement to the appropriate medication in the treatment of cartap toxicity.

Fabrication of chitosan-alginate nanospheres for controlled release of cartap hydrochloride

Insecticide cartap hydrochloride (C) was fabricated as nanospheres by a two-step method of ionic gelification and polyelectrolyte complexation of alginate (ALG) and chitosan (CS) to undermine its adverse effects on environment. Nanospheres were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectra and x-ray diffraction. The size of cartap hydrochloride entrapped chitosan alginate nanospheres (C-CS-ALG nps) was in range of 107.58-173.07 nm. Cartap hydrochloride nanospheres showed encapsulation efficiency of 76.19% and were stable for 30 d at ambient temperature. Release of cartap from nanospheres fitted best with first order linear kinetics followed by Hixson and Higuchi model suggesting super case II transport release. With the application of such control release nanoformulations, it is possible to reduce the frequency of field application of insecticide due to its slow release to the target organism, which is economical as well as environmentally safe.