Effect of Direct Sunlight on Plasma Vitamin-D and Histo-pathological Changes in Liver, Kidney and Skin of Mice

Abstract

An experiment was done with a view to observing the effect of direct sunlight on body weight, plasma vitamin-D and histo-pathology of liver, kidney and skin. A total of 15 apparently healthy male mice aged between 40 and 45 days with an average body weight of 28.8 ± 0.57 gm were used in the study. Mice were randomly divided into 3 equal groups. They were fed on normal mice pellet throughout the experimental period of 70 days. One group of mice was kept inside the room throughout the entire period of experiment and was considered control (Group A) whereas remaining two groups (B and C) were exposed to sunlight every other day in the morning. Between these two groups, A was exposed to sunlight for 1 hr and the B group was for 1.5 hr. Body weight was recorded on the first day, on 35th day and on the last day of the experiment. Blood and tissue samples (skin, liver and kidney) were collected at the end of the experiment by sacrificing the mice. The body weight was found significantly (p< 0.01) higher in all mice with the advancement of experiment and highest weight was recorded at the end of experiment. The plasma vitamin-D was altered in the mice exposed to sunlight compared to control. The mice exposed to sunlight daily for 1.5 hour exhibited much lower (p< 0.05) vitamin-D in their plasma compared to control group of mice. In histological investigation, skin did not show any alteration irrespective of group but venous congestion in liver and kidney was recorded in both the treated groups which are thought to be due to heat stress prevailing in the area of experiment.