الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract General exposure to mercury is inevitable since it has been shown to be exacerbated through contaminated water and food. The present study aimed at evaluating 3 different flavonoids and selenite against mercuric toxicity in rats. A total number of 70 adult male rats were randomly divided into 10 groups (7 animals each) as follow: group 1 was control, groups 2, 3, and 4 were orally treated with 50 mg/kg of morin, hesperetin, or naringin, respectively. Groups 5 and 6 were orally administered with 5 mg/kg of sodium selenite or HgCl2, respectively. Animals in groups 7, 8, and 9 were orally co-administered with HgCl2 and of morin, hesperetin, or naringin, respectively. group 10 was orally co-administered with HgCl2 and sodium selenite. All treatments continued daily for two weeks. Mercuric toxicity caused significant elevations in the levels/activities of total proteins, globulins, total cholesterol, triacylglycerols, TNF-, IL-6, ALT, -GT, MDA, and catalase. It also caused significant reductions in hepatic GSH content, Hb, and RBCs count. Taken together, flavonoids and sodium selenite showed prophylactic effects against most deleterious effects caused by mercury intoxication. The effects of mercury along with flavonoids and selenite on hematogram were all sporadic. There were no structure-activity relationships that could be withdrawn from this study. Naringin with the highest number of hydroxyl groups on B ring and the highest absolute number of hydroxyl groups in general discerned itself and was the best treatment as manifested only in MDA, TAGs, IL-6 , and TNF-. However, in all other biochemical parameters investigated, no significant differentiation between flavonoids was reported and every flavonoid has its own biological signature probably due to its metabolism. |