Assessment of Post Exposure of Benzene on Some Hematology Parameters and DNA Lesions on Adult Wistar Rats

Aims: The study sought to investigate the effect of post-exposure of benzene on some haematology parameters and DNA lesions on adult wistar rats.

Methods: A total of twenty-eight rats were grouped into 4 groups, with group 1 serving as a control. The remaining 3 groups were interperitoneally administered 0.2 ml of benzene 48 hourly for 4 weeks and were left of 0, 3 and 6 weeks respectively before sacrifice.

Results: The result obtained showed that White Blood Cell (WBC), Red Blood Cell (RBC) and platelet counts were significantly reduced in benzene post exposed groups (p<0.05). 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine generation in liver and bone marrow were significantly higher in benzene post exposed groups. The photomicrograph of blood film of benzene exposed group showed promyelocyte and myeloblast.

Conclusion: It is concluded that benzene and its metabolite are highly toxic and are potentially damaging agents to the hematopoietic system. Evidence from our study suggested that elevated levels of 8-OHdG in liver and bone marrow compare to control would be a sign of increased oxidative stress, impaired antioxidant defence or inadequate repair of oxidative damaged DNA.