Protective role of melatonin and a combination of vitamin C and vitamin E on lung toxicity induced by chlorpyrifos-ethyl in rats

• Published in: Experimental and toxicologic pathology : official journal of the Gesellschaft für Toxikologische Pathologie 2002-08, Vol.54 (2), p.97-108
• Main Authors: Karaoz, Erdal, Gultekin, Fatih, Akdogan, Mehmet, Oncu, Meral, Gokcimen, Alpaslan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antioxidant enzymes; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Ascorbic Acid - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Chlorpyrifos-ethyl; Lipid Peroxidation; Lung - drug effects; Lung - pathology; Lung toxicity; Male; Medical sciences; Melatonin; Melatonin - pharmacology; Organothiophosphorus Compounds - toxicity; Oxidative Stress; Pesticides, fertilizers and other agrochemicals toxicology; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Toxicology; Vitamin C; Vitamin E; Vitamin E - pharmacology
• ISSN: 0940-2993; 1618-1433
• DOI: 10.1078/0940-2993-00236

The ameliorating effects of melatonin and vitamin C plus vitamin E were examined histologically and biochemically in lung tissues in rats exposed to chlorpyriphos-ethyl (CE). Experimental groups were as follows: Control group (C), CE treated group (CE), vitamin C plus vitamin E treated group (Vit), melatonin treated group (Mel), vitamin C plus vitamin E plus CE treated group (Vit+CE), and melatonin plus CE treated group (Mel+CE). Vitamin E and vitamin C were administered intramuscularly at the rates of 150 and 200 mg per kg body weight, respectively, in Vit and Vit+CE groups, once a day for 6 consecutive days. Melatonin was administered intramuscularly at the rate of 10 mg per kg body weight in Mel and Mel+CE groups, once a day for 6 consecutive days. At the end of the fifth day, the rats of CE, Vit+CE and Mel+CE groups were treated orally with CE dissolved in corn oil with two equal doses of 41 mg CE per kg body weight at zero and twenty-first hours. Tissue samples of lungs were taken by using appropriate techniques for biochemical and histological examinations under anesthesia at the twenty-fourth hours of CE administration, at the end of the sixth day of the experiment. In tissue homogenates, the level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), antioxidant potential (AOP), and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT) were determined. TBARS was significantly high (p < 0.05) in CE group compared to control group, while TBARS was found to significantly decrease (p < 0.05) with Vit and Mel groups compared to control. On the other hand, TBARS was seen to significantly decrease (p