ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Ecol. Evol.
Sec. Conservation and Restoration Ecology
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Nature-Based Solutions to Address the Impacts of Climate Change within the Global SouthView all 8 articles
Organic-specific histopathological lesions as biomarkers of pesticide exposure in wild mammals from Nigerian ecological zones
Provisionally accepted
Idongesit Gabriel AkinyemiAyokunle Olumide OlomolaRuth Oluwaseun AJAGBEOmolara Olufunke AmeleIfeanyichukwu Roseline OkonkworKolajo Kofoworola Adeniyi
Stephen Olubusoye AJAGBE*- Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Nigeria
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Pesticide use in agroecosystems poses potential risks to non-target wildlife, yet empirical data on organ-specific pathological responses in free-ranging mammals remain limited in Nigeria. This study assessed the occurrence and distribution of histopathological lesions in selected organs of wild mammals opportunistically collected across three ecological zones; humid forest (Akwa Ibom State), derived savanna (Oyo State), and Guinea savanna (Nasarawa State). A total of 53 organ samples were opportunistically obtained from seven wild mammal species, including antelope (Tragelaphus sp.), cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus), porcupine (Hystrix sp.), giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus), civet cat (Civettictis civetta), pangolin (Manis sp.), and bush Canidae sp. dog (Speothos venaticus). Tissues from the lung, liver, kidney, spleen, heart, and skeletal muscle were processed using standard histopathological procedures. Lesion presence and severity were recorded, and associations between organ type and lesion occurrence were evaluated using chi-square tests and effect size statistics. Overall, 52.8% of examined organs exhibited histopathological alterations, with pronounced organ-specific patterns. All lung samples (100%) showed lesions, predominantly interstitial pneumonia, congestion, oedema, and atelectasis across ecological zones. The liver exhibited a high lesion prevalence (90.0%), characterized by hepatocellular degeneration, necrosis, vacuolation, and hydropic change. Renal lesions occurred at a moderate frequency (27.3%), whereas no lesions were detected in splenic tissues. Cardiac lesions were infrequent (12.5%), and skeletal muscle showed lesions in 50.0% of samples, mainly hyperkeratosis and vascular congestion. Lesion patterns were consistent across ecological zones, and a strong association was observed between organ type and lesion occurrence (Phi and Cramer's V = 0.741, p < 0.001).
Keywords: histopathology, Liver, Lung, Pesticides, Wild mammals
Received: 18 Nov 2025; Accepted: 26 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Akinyemi, Olomola, AJAGBE, Amele, Okonkwor, Adeniyi and AJAGBE. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Stephen Olubusoye AJAGBE
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