Effect of Periodic Exposure to Formaldehyde in the Anatomy Laboratory on Some Liver Function Indices in Male Wistar Rats

Abstract

The effect of periodic exposure to formaldehyde in the Anatomy laboratory on some liver function indices in fifteen male wistar rats divided into three groups of A,B and C with 5 animals in each group were investigated. Group A served as control with nil exposure while groups B and C were the test groups with 5 months exposure on non-dissection days and dissection days respectively. Formaldehyde air level was measured both at experimental and control sites. Some liver function indices measured include Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Statistical analysis was done using Graph Pad Prism version 5.0. Results were presented as Mean ± SEM. Analysis of Variance was used to compare the means of test and control values while post hoc test was done using Student Newman Keul’s test and a P-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results revealed significant increase in formaldehyde air level in the dissection hall. There was observable increase in ALT, AST and ALP but they were not significant. It was therefore concluded that periodic exposure to formaldehyde may not have any harmful effect on liver function in wistar rats.