Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jul;4(3):154-60.
doi: 10.4103/0974-8490.99078.

Co-administration of sodium arsenite and ethanol: Protection by aqueous extract of Aframomum longiscapum seeds

Solomon E Owumi  1 , Oyeronke A Odunola, Mohammed Aliyu
Affiliations

Co-administration of sodium arsenite and ethanol: Protection by aqueous extract of Aframomum longiscapum seeds

Solomon E Owumi et al. Pharmacognosy Res. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Human exposure to arsenicals, its toxicity, subsequent adverse effects on health has been widely reported and implicated in the etiology of several cancers.

Objectives: We investigated the effect of Aframomum longiscapum (AL) extracts on sodium arsenite (SA) and ethanol (EtOH)-induced toxicities in rats.

Materials and methods: Male rats were fed SA, EtOH, and SA + EtOH, with or without AL for 5 weeks. Hepatic transaminases were assessed in serum, micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (mPCEs) from bone marrow, liver histopathology, and semen quality from caudal epididymis were assessed, respectively, and data were represented as mean ± SD, analyzed by ANOVA.

Results: SA, SA + EtOH, and AL alone induced mPCEs formation in rat bone marrow (P < 0.05). A decrease (P < 0.05) in mPCEs in AL + SA + EtOH-treated rats compared with SA, and SA + EtOH was observed. SA and EtOH treatment increased serum hepatic transaminases (P < 0.05) relative to control, while AL treatment resulted in a decrease (P < 0.05). AL, SA, and SA + EtOH treatment decreased sperm count and motility (P < 0.05) with no effect on viability compared with control. Semen morphological abnormalities showed no difference (P > 0.05) across the treated groups. Hepatic histopathology indicated mild mononuclear cellular infiltration in the control group. Necrotic hepatocyte were observed in SA, SA + EtOH treated groups, with no visible lesions seen in the AL treated group. Mild hepatocyte congestion of the portal vessels was observed in AL + SA + EtOH-treated groups.

Conclusion: The AL extract exhibited anticlastogenic and hepatoprotective potentials, reduced sperm count, motility, with no effect on viability and morphology. Our findings suggest that AL may mitigate the effect of arsenicals-induced clastogenicity implicated in chemical carcinogenesis.

Keywords: Aframomum longiscapum; arsenite; ethanol; micronuclei.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Photomicrograph of the liver sections at different magnifications, (a) Control rat: diffuse periportal vacuolar degeneration of hepatocytes with very mild cellular infiltration by mononuclear cells, (b) Sodium arsenite treated rat: there are multiple areas of extensive vacuolar degeneration of hepatocytes, (c) Sodium arsenite and ethanol treated rat: there is severe hepatic degeneration and necrosis (diffuse), (d) Aqueous extract of Aframomum longiscapum seed treated rat: no visible lesion seen, (e) Sodium arsenite + EtOH + aqueous extract of Aframomum longiscapum seed treated rat: mild hepatic degeneration, mild congestion of the portal vessels and mild mononuclear cellular infiltration, (f) EtOH alone. plates b, d and e are (×400) and a, c and f are (×100) magnification
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Some Inorganic and Organometallic compounds: Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risk of chemicals to humans. Vol. 2. France: Lyon; 1973. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
    1. Yoshida T, Yamauchi H, Sun G. Chronic health effects in people exposed to arsenic via the drinking water: Dose-response relationships in review. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2004;198:243–52. - PubMed
    1. Chiou HY, Hsueh YM, Liaw KF, Horng SF, Chiang MH, Pu YS, et al. Incidence of internal Cancer and ingested inorganic arsenic: A seven-year follow-up study in Taiwan. Cancer Res. 1995;55:1296–300. - PubMed
    1. Smith A, Goycolea M, Haque R, Biggs ML. Marked increase in bladder and Lung cancer mortality in a region of Northern Chile due to arsenic in drinking water. Am J Epidemiol. 1998;147:660–9. - PubMed
    1. Tsuda T, Babazono A, Yamamoto E, Kurumatini N, Mino Y, Ogawa T, et al. Ingested arsenic and internal cancer: A historical cohort study followed for 33 years. Am J Epidemiol. 1995;141:198–209. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources