Evaluation of hemato-biochemical indices and oxidative stress in goats: a potential risk towards arsenic toxicity in contaminated zone of West Bengal, India

Arsenic is one of the widely dispersed elements in the Earth’s crust and exists in the environment due to natural and anthropogenic sources. The toxin is greatly expanded through intensive application of groundwater in agriculture in the region within the Green Revolution framework. It is an environmental chemical element of high concern for human and animal health. Agricultural land is constantly contaminated with arsenic due to application of groundwater for irrigation purposes. Animals, being exposed to arsenic through contaminated drinking water, exhibit major abnormalities in the blood and tissues of animals prior to the excretion in the urine and feces. This present study was conducted to evaluate the hemato-biochemical indices and blood oxidative stress in thirty Black Bengal goats irrespective of age, sex, breeding system of Ghetugachi village of Nadia district of West Bengal, India, and control Akna village of Polba block of Hoogli district of West Bengal, India. There was a significant reduction in hemoglobin, red blood cells and white blood cells, packed cell volume, and total serum protein with a significant elevation of aspartate aminotransaminase, alanine aminotransaminase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine. Elevated corpuscular osmotic fragility depicted an altered mechanism associated with the deviation of the normal functioning of erythrocytes. Goats harboring in the grazing arsenic endemic zone also showed a significantly higher arsenic burden in blood. The affected goats further exhibited declined superoxide dismutase and catalase activities of erythrocytes and plasma nitrite levels with increased lipid peroxidation and protein carbonyl level. Our investigation concluded that goats of the arsenic-affected areas are suffering from a subclinical form of arsenic toxicity, which is proved through the altered hemato-biochemical and oxidative stress indices with a higher arsenic concentration in the blood.