EVALUATION OF HISTOPATHOLOGICAL CHANGES AND IMMUNOREACTIVITY PATTERN OF P53 PROTEIN IN THE HEART OF ALBINO RATS EXPOSED TO CAR PAINT FUMES BY OSOH DIVINE BENEDICT MLS/17/1496 A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF B

ABSRTACT The aim of this study was to analyze the histopathological and immunoreactivity pattern of p53 in the heart of albino rats exposed to car paint fume. Car paint exposure has been reported to cause minor to severe health conditions including headaches, birth defects, cancers, organ damage, central nervous system effects like loss of memory, confusion, seizures, allergic, neuropsychological,respiratory and other effects. Twenty- four albino rats, divided into three groups of eight animals were used for this study. Group A was the control group, while B and C were the female and male groups respectively. The rats were exposed to car paint fume for thirty days, while allowing them to food and water ad libitum. The heart tissue was excised from each animal after 30 days of exposure to the car paint fume. Tissue samples were processed and stained by the H &E method for histopathological evaluation while IHC for p53 was carried out using the avidin-biotin method. The result showed no morphological changes in the test and control groups and the p53 reactivity was negative for all groups. It could be deduced from the present study that after inhalation of car paint fume for 30 days, no morphological derangement was seen in the heart. It is however, recommended that further studies will be carried out increasing the duration of exposure.