Al-Hikmah University Journal

Introduction: Exposure to environmental toxins and ensuing liver health outcomes has attracted global attention. This study was aimed at assessing the liver function indices among farmers exposed to pesticides.
Methodology: This research was carried out on 130 apparently healthy male participants aged 18 years and above. The participants were randomly selected for this comparative cross-sectional study. The participants were further divided into two groups; the Pesticide-exposed group and the control group (non-exposed). Demographic characteristics of the participants were obtained by standard methods. Five milliliters of fasting blood samples were collected from each participant after an overnight fast (8 to 12 hours). A portion of the blood sample was dispensed into plain tubes for the estimation of serum Aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, albumin, and total protein. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 25.0 software was used for statistical analysis.
Results: The results from this study suggest that exposure to pesticides may have adverse effects on the liver as evidenced in the observed significant (p ≥ 0.05) increase in serum AST, ALT, and decreased Albumin and Total protein values in the pesticide-exposed group when compared with the normal control.