International Journal of Advances in Nephrology Research

Aim: To evaluate the levels of some kidney and liver function markers in humans exposed to pesticides in Okagwe and Ihe-Nta, Abia State, Nigeria.

Study Design:  A cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Abia-ADP, Ohafia Zone and Department of Biochemistry, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, between August 2018 and September 2021.

Methodology: A total of 160 human subjects participated in this study. They consisted of 80 pesticides exposed agricultural workers in open field and 80 non-exposed volunteers, who served as control subjects. All the participants gave written informed consent, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Abia State, Nigeria gave Ethical Approval for this study. Venous blood samples were collected from all participants and dispensed into plain sample containers. The blood samples were allowed to clot and were centrifuged to obtain serum samples, which were used to determine kidney function tests: urea, creatinine, cystatin C, and kidney injury molecule -1 and liver function tests: aspartate amino transaminase (AST), alanine amino transaminase (ALT), total and direct bilirubin levels and total protein.

Results: Results showed that there were statistically significant decreases (p<.05) in serum total protein 39.60±5.58 (g/dl), total bilirubin 15.62 ± 3.71 (umol/l) in pesticide exposed agricultural workers compared to control. There were also statistically significant increases in AST 19.59 ± 2.45 (IU/L), ALT 70.34 ± 4.89 (IU/L), KIM-1 89.79 ± 8.85 (pg/ml), cystatin C 606.47±76.89 (mg/dl), urea 5.91± 0.60 (mmol/l), creatinine 65.31±5.56 (mg/dl) in pesticides exposed agriculture workers compared to control.

Conclusion: From the results, we conclude that there was liver and kidney damage as a result of the exposure to pesticide, as shown by the significant increases in KIM-1, AST, ALT, serum total and conjugated bilirubin levels, cystatin C, urea and creatinine.