Carbofuran-Induced Oxidative Stress in Mammalian Brain

Abstract

Chronic exposure to carbofuran, a carbamate pesticide, via oral administration has been reported to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) in rat brain. However, information regarding the effect of short-term intraperitoneal (i.p.) carbofuran intoxication on oxidative stress is lacking. In the present study, the effect of carbofuran on oxidative indices in brain of Wistar rats has been determined by exposing the animals to three subacute concentrations (0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg body weight) equivalent to 10, 20, and 40%, respectively, of its LD50 (i.p.) for 24 h. Rat liver has been used as a positive control. The results demonstrated that carbofuran treatment at the 3 concentrations tested caused significant increase in lipid peroxidation (LPO) by 12.50, 34.38, and 59.38%, respectively. The increased oxidative stress at same pesticide concentrations significantly induced activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase in rat brain; the impact on catalase being more marked only at high-pesticide doses (0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg body weight). Carbofuran also caused reduction in protein content of rat tissues tested. Rat brain was more severely affected by carbofuran than liver. The results clearly demonstrated that i.p. administration of carbofuran accelerated oxidative stress in rat brain in a dose-dependent manner.

Effect of Imidacloprid on antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation in female rats to derive its No Observed Effect Level (NOEL)

“…Decrease in activity of SOD in liver and brain of imidacloprid intoxicated rats may be due to consumption of this enzyme in O 2 -to H 2 O 2. Similar decreased activity of SOD in animals was also reported with different pesticides namely chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, carbofuran, dimethoate and malathion, which shows decrease SOD activity in rats (Khan et al, 2005;Rai and Sharma, 2007;Mansour and Mossa, 2009).…”

“…O 2 free radicals and hydroperoxide collectively termed as ROS are produced by univalent reduction of dioxygen to superoxide anion (O 2 -) which in turn is converted into H 2 O 2 and O 2 through a reaction catalyzed by SOD (Rai and Sharma, 2007). Antioxidant enzymes (SOD and CAT) constitute first line of defense against deleterious effect of oxyradicals in cell by catalyzing dismutation of superoxide radical.…”

Hepatoprotective Effect ofCitrus limonFruit Extract against Carbofuran Induced Toxicity in Wistar Rats

“…However, in contrast to these findings a single i.p. dose of 10% LD 50 of carbofuran has been reported to enhance the activity of CAT [17]. The restoration of the activity of these enzymes in the present investigation to near normal level due to introduction of C. limon fruit extract in the pesticide treated animals suggested the antioxidative and ameliorative potential.…”

“…The chronic and acute exposure of carbofuran has been reported to cause perturbations into the levels of enzymes such as aminotransaminases, glutamate dehydrogenase, and glycogen phosphorylase (a and b) as well as other biomolecules including protein, amino acids, ammonia, and glycogen from rat liver and muscles [14]. The acute intoxication of carbofuran may cause alterations in the levels of globular protein, triglycerides, cholesterol, and depletion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (PCr) in rat liver and serum [17].…”

“…The pesticide induced free radicals mediated toxicity, however, may be ameliorated by introduction of extracts from some traditional Indian medicinal plants [17,[24][25][26]. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of C. limon fruit extract against carbofuran induced toxicity in rats.…”