We investigated the protective effects of curcumin on propanil-induced alterations in biochemical indices in blood and liver of male Wistar rats. The study consisted of four treatment groups, with six animals each, designated as control, propanil (20mg/kg), curcumin(50 mg/kg), and curcumin (50 mg/kg) + propanil (20 mg/kg). Rats were administered their respective doses orally, every other day, for 28 days. Propanil administration elicited significant (
Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is a yellow colouring ingredient of the spice turmeric obtained from the rhizome of
Propanil (3, 4-dichloropropioanilide) is an acylanilide herbicide used to control barnyard grass, broadleaf weeds, and for the postemergent treatment of rice [
Antioxidants had been proven to play an important role in the regulation of a vast array of physiological and pathological processes. They principally contribute to the protection of cells and tissues against deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species and other free radicals.
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of subacute propanil exposure in the plasma of male rats and to assess whether these effects could be ameliorated by cotreatment with curcumin. To achieve this aim, rats were given propanil and curcumin by oral gavage for 28 days, after which malondialdehyde (MDA) and GSH levels and GST and CAT activities as well as other biochemical endpoints were evaluated.
Commercial herbicide, propanil, was purchased from Harvest Field Industries Limited, Lagos State, Nigeria. Curcumin was obtained from Sigma Chemicals Corp, St. Louis, MO, USA. Other reagents were of analytical grade and the purest quality available.
Albino rats, weighing between 150 g and 200 g, purchased from covenant farm animal house located at Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, were used in this study. The animals were kept in well-ventilated cages at room temperature and under controlled conditions of ambient temperature (25°C) at the Redeemer’s University Animal House Facility, Mowe, Ogun State, Nigeria. They were maintained on normal laboratory chow and water
Animals were divided into 4 experimental groups (
Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total cholesterol, creatinine, and bilirubin were estimated in plasma using Randox commercial kits. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) was determined by measuring the formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) according to the method of Varshney and Kale [
Noncoagulated blood was tested, after collection, for packed cell volume (PCV) and differential white blood cells count according to the procedure outlined by Cheesbrough and McArthur [
All values were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) of six observations. Differences between the groups were determined by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc testing was performed for intergroup comparisons using Tukey’s test using Graph Pad Prism 3 software. Values were regarded as significantly different at
Evaluation of plasma marker indices in rats exposed to propanil (20 mg/kg/bodyweight) showed that there were significant (
Effect of curcumin (CUR) on some plasma biochemical indices in rats orally treated with propanil. Values are expressed as mean ± SD for six animals per group.
The hematological properties of rats exposed to propanil are shown in Table
Effect of curcumin (CUR) on some hematological parameters and total cholesterol values in rats treated with propanil (PRP).
Treatment | PCV, % | Total leucocyte, ×103 | Neutrophils | Total cholesterol (mg/dL) |
---|---|---|---|---|
CONTROL | 41.5 ± 2.1 | 4.1 ± 0.4 | 60.3 ± 3.9 | 49 ± 2.8 |
PRP | 40.8 ± 2.1 | 4.8 ± 0.9 | 51.2 ± 9.4 | 53 ± 4.1 |
CUR | 41.8 ± 3.3 | 4.4 ± 0.4 | 55.0 ± 3.9 | 50.6 ± 4.4 |
CUR + PRP | 41.0 ± 3.2 | 5.6 ± 0.2a | 58.2 ± 5.1 | 55.2 ± 3.5 |
Values are mean ±SD of six rats in each group.
The ability of a cell or tissue to maintain its integrity is a function of the levels of the antioxidants present when compared with the level of the oxidants. The balance between these two determines the susceptibility of the cell or tissue to free radicals attack or oxidative stress. Results indicated that lipid peroxidation level was significantly (
Effect of curcumin on reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase, and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in liver of rats orally treated with propanil. Values are expressed as mean ± SD for six animals per group.
Effect of curcumin on lipid peroxidation, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E levels in liver of rats orally treated with propanil. Values are expressed as mean ± SD for six animals per group.
The protective role of curcumin in propanil-induced toxicity in Wistar rats was examined in this study. Hematological and biochemical profiles of blood are known to provide important information about the internal environment of the organism. Curcumin, an antioxidant and anticarcinogenic substance, was reported to have a protective effect against liver damage and ferric nitrilotriacetate induced peroxidation of microsomal membrane lipids [
Due to its role in the transformation of environmental xenobiotics, the liver is at great risk of injury. Lipid peroxidation represents one of the most frequent reactions resulting from free radicals’ attack on biological structures. In our study, the liver MDA level, index of lipid peroxidation, significantly increased in the propanil-treated rats. Supplementation with curcumin significantly attenuated the increase in lipid peroxidation levels. It is plausible that the mechanism of this protection could be the inhibition of reactive oxygen species generation by suppressing cytochrome P450 isozymes which are involved in the bioactivation of propanil to toxic reactive metabolites such as 3, 4-dichloroaniline [
GST detoxifies a variety of electrophilic compounds to less toxic forms by conjugation with–SH groups from GSH. In the present study, GST activity was not changed by any of the exposure schemes. This correlated with the findings that exposure of rats to cypermethrin in single and repeated doses had no relevant effect on GST activities [
An increase in plasma cholesterol as a result of pesticide exposure may indicate loss of membrane integrity. Carlson and Kolmodin-Hedman [
This study confirmed the liver damage in the propanil-treated group by the increase in AST and ALP levels in plasma. Exposure of propanil-intoxicated rats with curcumin normalized the activities of AST and ALP to their control values. The decrease in AST and ALP activities supports the hepatoprotective effects of curcumin, consistent with the findings that curcumin modulated the increased activity of marker enzymes and plasma lipid levels in nicotine-treated rats [
Hematological and biochemical profiles of blood can provide important information about the internal environment of the organism [
In summary, the present results suggested that curcumin protected against the liver toxicity induced by propanil treatment in rats. In this study, propanil elicited increase in AST and ALP activities. Furthermore, it had been suggested that lipid peroxidation might be a contributing factor to the development of liver toxicity. The significantly decreased activities of hepatic plasma markers (AST and ALP) and lipid peroxidation marker (malondialdehyde) along with normalizing of the endogenous GSH level suggest that curcumin is a strong antioxidant. We also observed that the curcumin + propanil combination resulted in a significant increase in cholesterol levels when compared with the control group suggesting a possible synergetic hyperlipidemic effect when curcumin combines with propanil.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.