Background and purpose: Exposure to formaldehyde (FA), a highly-used chemical in industries, can induce serious health problems.Aim of this study was to explorethestatus of oxidant and antioxidant parameters in liver tissue of rats exposed to FAinhalation Materials and methods: Twenty-one male albino Wistar rats divided into 3 separate groups randomly (n=7). Rats in groups 1 and 2 were respectively exposed to atmospheres containing6 and 12 PPM FA continuously (8 hours/day, 14 days), whileanimals in group 3 which served as control group were not exposed to any stress source.The animals were anesthetized by CO2 and after decapitation, liver samples were collected and processed for estimation of MDA and GSHlevels in the supernatant by spectrophotometric methodin control and exposed groups. Data were analyzed bynonparametric tests and significance was expressedas P<0.05. Results: The present research findings showed statistically significant body weight loss in FA (12ppm) exposed group compared to the control and also FA (6ppm) exposed groups. However, a statistically significant decrease in liver weight and liver/body weight ratio was observed in the exposed groups compared to the control group (P<0.05). FA exposed groups showed a statistically significant decrease in GSH levelin liver tissue and statistically significant increase in MDA level in liver tissue (P<0.05). However, the levels of changes inbiochemical parametersin FA exposed groups were not dose-dependent. Conclusion: The results of present study show that exposure to formaldehyde is toxic to liver tissue. Further research for exploring the toxicity of FA in occupationally exposed groups is recommended.

Keywords: Formaldehyde, Oxidative stress, Reduced Glutathione, Lipid peroxidation and Malondialdehyde

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