Protective effects of selenium, vitamin C and E combination on cadmium-induced toxicity in various tissues of rats

Abstract

In this study, the effect of the combination of vitamin C (VC), vitamin E (VE) and sodium selenate (Se) on cadmium (Cd)-induced oxidative damage in various rat tissues was investigated. Cd (2 mg/kg/day) was given intraperitoneally for 9 days, whereas VC (250 mg/kg/day), VE (250 mg/kg/ day) and Se (0.25 mg/kg/day) were given orally to rats for 8 days. VCE and Se (same dose and time intervals) were given to the animals, 1 hour prior to the administration of Cd every day. Tissue and blood samples were taken for biochemical analyses on the 9(th) day. Blood glutathione (GSH) and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), catalase (CAT), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) and paraoxonase (PON1) activities as well as serum cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol) levels were determined. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) and GSH determinations were performed in brain, lens, muscle, skin and spleen tissues. In Cd group, blood GSH levels, serum HDL-cholesterol, serum CAT and PON1 activities, and brain, skin, spleen and lens GSH levels decreased, while serum LDH and GGT activities, serum cholesterol and muscle GSH levels, and brain, spleen, muscle and lens LPO levels increased. The administration of VCE and Se significantly caused a decrease in LPO levels, but an increase in GSH levels in brain, skin, spleen and lens of Cd group. Serum LDH and GGT activities as well as cholesterol and GSH levels in muscle decreased, whereas CAT and PON1 activities and HDL-cholesterol levels increased in the group provided with Cd and antioxidant. As a result, the present study indicates that VCE and Se, because of their antioxidant activity against Cd damage, have a protective effect on the brain, skin, spleen and lens tissues, along with some serum and blood biochemical parameters of rats.