In the present investigation, we have studied the toxic potential of oleic acid anilide (OAA) and heated oleic acid anilide (HOAA) in relation to the toxic oil syndrome (TOS). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were given 250 mg/kg of OAA or HOAA in mineral oil by gavage, on alternate days for 2 weeks (total 7 doses). The control rats received an equal volume of mineral oil only. The animals were sacrificed at days 1, 7, and 28 following the last dose. Ratio of organ-to-body weight showed increases in spleen and kidney of HOAA and OAA treated rats, respectively, at day 1 while this ratio for liver in HOAA treated group showed a decrease at day 1. Among blood parameters, white blood cells increased in HOAA treated group at day 1 and in both OAA and HOAA groups at day 28. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean cell volume (MCV) also showed increases in the HOAA treated rats at days 7 and 28. Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) decreased in both OAA and HOAA treated rats at day 1, while at day 7 the decrease was confined only to the HOAA group. Serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) activities also decreased at most of the time points. Liver mitochondrial ATPase activity decreased in the HOAA group at day 7 and in the OAA group at day 28. Among serum immunoglobulins, IgA levels increased throughout the study but the changes were more pronounced in HOAA treated rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)