Abstract

Background: Liver is an important organ that responsible for biological detoxification. There are few studies about the effect of co-exposure to organic solvents and noise on hepatic system enzymes. The study aim was to assess the effects of short-term exposure to noise and styrene on rat liver enzymes. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, we studied the liver enzymes of male rats. Twenty-four rats (250±10 g) were divided in four groups (N=6): control (A), noise exposure (100dB) (B), styrene exposure (750ppm) (C), styrene (750ppm) + noise (100dB) co-exposure (D). Treatment was performed in an 8 hours/day and 5 day/week order for 2 weeks. Blood samples were obtained for AST, ALT, and ALP investigation. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software. Results: Calculations based on weighting did not show any significant difference in body weight and liver/body weight ratio in co-exposed group, compared to the control (P greater-than 0.050). Noise exposure caused a statistically significant increase both in liver enzymes (ALT, ATP, AST) (P less-than 0.050) and liver/body weight ratio compere to control. The mean serum ALP & ALT level in the co-exposure group was significantly higher than control (P less-than 0.001). Our findings indicated that acute styrene inhalation did not significantly change liver enzymes (AST, ALT) compared to control group (P greater-than 0.050). Conclusions: It can be concluded that exposure to noise (100 dB) alone and combined with styrene can cause imbalance in liver enzymes level. Results suggest that liver enzymes are sensitive to noise therefore can be used as a screening method for early diagnosis of hepatic dysfunction for exposed individuals at work places. The current study clearly confirmed that co-exposure to noise and styrene has an additive effect in ALP augmentation.