Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the toxic effect of four different melamine doses (5000, 10000, 15000 and 20000 ppm) supplemented orally in the diet for 28 days on male rats. The appearance, anatomy, serum electrolytes, kidney functions (creatinine, urea and uric acid), serum melamine concentration, total body weight, food intake, food efficiency ratio (FER), body weight gain (BWG), percentage of body weight gain (BWG%), water consumed and histopathological examinations of three organs (kidney, ureter and urinary bladder) were investigated. The melamine supplemented rats turned yellow and showed different degrees of toxicity, hypertrophy and congestion, particularly the kidneys and the ureters as a result of melamine toxicity. Serum Na and Cl levels were decreased, whereas serum K, P and Ca levels were increased compared to the negative control. Kidney functions showed elevation of the mean values of serum creatinine, urea and uric acid. The histopathological examination of the three organs under study showed adverse pathological signs according to the melamine dose.