1Department of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, (Haryana), India.
2Department of Veterinary Pathology, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263 145, (Uttaranchal), India.
Pesticides residues in environment adversely affect the nature's balance and interfere with the life of non target organisms including man in the ecosystem. These can have harmful effects on various body systems and interfere with immune responses. To study the effect of monocrotophos on humoral immune response in sheep, 8 six months old sheep were used in two groups of 4 sheep each. All the animals were vaccinated with Brucella melitensis Rev. 1 at day zero and day 90. One group was given monocrotophos daily orally at dose rate of 0.025 mg/kg b.wt. for 6 months. In blood, serum globulins and γ-globulins were estimated at 10 days interval. Specific humoral immune response was measured by standard tube agglutination test and ELISA at 10 days interval. In monocrotophos fed lambs, significant suppression in serum globulins, γ-globulins and specific Brucella antibodies was seen in comparison to controls indicating immunosuppressive effect of the pesticide.
Monocrotophos, Sheep, Humoral immune response, Immunosuppression
