Background: Cypermethrin (CYP), a pyrethroid that is globally used in the field and house to fight the pests. CYP can induce cellular toxicity and cross the placental barrier. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) can fight the prenatal exposure to the inflammation. This work aimed to study, for the first time, the effects of NAC on the sensory retina of male albino rats exposed prenatally to cypermethrin.

Materials and methods: Twenty-four sexually mature female albino rats and 12 male albino rats were allowed for mating and divided equally into the following groups: group I (control group): kept without treatment; group II (NAC group): received 1 g/kg/day NAC diluted in distilled water orally by gastric tube from the 7th day of gestation till delivery; group III (CYP group): received 12 mg/kg/day of cypermethrin orally by gastric tube from the 7th day of gestation till delivery; group IV (CYP and NAC group): received 12 mg/kg/day of cypermethrin and 1 g/kg/day of NAC. The ten male offspring of each group were divided into subgroups a and b that were sacrificed at the age of 7th and 14th days postnatal, respectively. At the end of the experiment, the eye samples were subjected to histological, immunohistochemical and morphometric studies.

Results: Concerning the different previous studies, the sensory retina of CYP subgroups showed vacuolation of the inner and outer plexiform layers, dilated congested blood vessels, hyalinisation and disorganisation of the photoreceptor layer. Also, the expression of collagen IV and caspase 3 (a marker of apoptosis) was up-regulated in the CYP subgroups.

Conclusions: N-acetylcysteine significantly protected the sensory retina from the damaging effects of CYP. NAC could be considered as a good protective agent against the damaging effect of CYP on the sensory retina.