Abstract:
Cadmium is an extremely toxic metal which has no known necessary function in the body. Industrial use and agricultural fertilizers are the major source of its environmental contamination. It principally affects lung, liver, kidney and testes following acute intoxication. The present study pertains to the protective role of rutin against cadmium (Cd)-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Rutin is a naturally occurring citrus flavanone which has been reported to have a wide range of pharmacological properties. In the present investigation cadmium (5 mg kg-1) was administered orally for 4 weeks to induce hepatotoxicity. Cadmium treatment enhanced the lipid peroxidation in liver significantly (p<0.001). Cadmium treatment also decreased the amount of non-enzymatic antioxidant viz., reduced glutathione (GSH) significantly. Cadmium treatment decreased the level of enzymatic antioxidant enzymes viz., super oxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and Glutathione-S-Transferase (GST). Two different doses of rutin (80 and 20 mg kg-1 b.wt.) were given to the mice along with the cadmium. High dose treatment of rutin (80 mg kg-1 b.wt.) resulted in significant decrease in lipid peroxidation (p<0.001). It also restored the amount of reduced glutathione significantly (p<0.001). Administration of high dose of rutin also brought the activities of cellular antioxidant enzymes viz., SOD (p<0.001), CAT (p<0.01) and GST (p<0.001) significantly to normal. The study result suggested that rutin may be beneficial in ameliorating the cadmium-induced oxidative damage in the liver of mice.
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