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. 2015 Mar;9(3):1023-1027.
doi: 10.3892/etm.2014.2164. Epub 2014 Dec 30.

Effect of boric acid on oxidative stress in rats with fetal alcohol syndrome

Ibrahim Sogut  1 , Aysegul Oglakci  2 , Kazim Kartkaya  2 , Kevser Kusat Ol  2 , Melis Savasan Sogut  3 , Gungor Kanbak  2 , Mine Erden Inal  2
Affiliations

Effect of boric acid on oxidative stress in rats with fetal alcohol syndrome

Ibrahim Sogut et al. Exp Ther Med. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study concerning the effect of boric acid (BA) administration on fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). In this study, the aim was to investigate prenatal alcohol-induced oxidative stress on the cerebral cortex of newborn rat pups and assess the protective and beneficial effects of BA supplementation on rats with FAS. Pregnant rats were divided into three groups, namely the control, alcohol and alcohol + boric acid groups. As markers of alcohol-induced oxidative stress in the cerebral cortex of the newborn pups, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels were measured. Although the MDA levels in the alcohol group were significantly increased compared with those in the control group (P<0.05), the MDA level in the alcohol + boric acid group was shown to be significantly decreased compared with that in the alcohol group (P<0.01). The CAT activity of the alcohol + boric acid group was significantly higher than that in the alcohol group (P<0.05). The GPx activity in the alcohol group was decreased compared with that in the control group (P<0.05). These results demonstrate that alcohol is capable of triggering damage to membranes of the cerebral cortex of rat pups and BA could be influential in antioxidant mechanisms against oxidative stress resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure.

Keywords: boric acid; catalase; fetal alcohol syndrome; glutathione peroxidase; malondialdehyde; superoxide dismutase.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Experimental procedure. E, embryonic day; P, postnatal day; MLD, modified liquid diet; BA, boric acid.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of boric acid on malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in rats exposed to alcohol. *P<0.05; **P<0.01. Data shown are mean ± standard deviation.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity among the groups. There were statistically insignificant (P>0.05) differences among the groups. All data are shown as the mean ± standard deviation.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of boric acid on the activity of catalase (CAT) in rats exposed to alcohol. *P<0.05. All data are shown as the mean ± standard deviation.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) among the groups. *P<0.05. All data are shown as the mean ± standard deviation.
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