Protective effects of resveratrol on biomarkers of oxidative stress, biochemical and histopathological changes induced by sub-chronic oral glyphosate-based herbicide in rats

Abstract

The aim of this sub-chronic toxicity study is to determine the protective effects of Resveratrol (Res) on oxidative stress, biochemical and histopathological changes induced by glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) in the blood, brain, heart, liver and renal tissues. A total of 28 male Wistar rats were equally divided into 4 groups so that each group included 7 rats. In the study, Group I (control group) was given normal rodent feed and tap water ad libitum. Group II (Res group) was given Res 20 mg kg^-1, Group III (GBH group) was given GBH of 375 mg kg^-1 to achieve 1/10 of Lethal Dose 50% (LD50), and Group IV (Res + GBH) was given Res 20 mg kg^-1 and GBH 375 mg kg^-1 with oral gavage once a day for 8 weeks. While GBH decreased the glutathione (GSH) levels in the blood, brain, heart, liver and renal tissues, it significantly increased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. In contrast, the aforementioned parameters were seen to recover in the group to which Res was administered. Moreover, it was observed that Res improved the histopathological changes induced by GBH in rat tissues. In conclusion, Res prevents oxidative stress caused by GBH by preventing lipid peroxidation (LPO) and boosting the antioxidant defense system and decreases the damage in the brain, heart, liver and renal tissues of Wistar rats.

Fig. 1. The effect of resveratrol (Res) on damage induced by glyphosate-based herbicide in the brain (A), heart (B), liver (C) and kidney (D) of the rats. Representative figures were stained with H&E. The original magnification was ×20 and the scale bars represent 100 μm. Arrows and arrow heads indicate focal gliosis and neuronal degenerations (A3) and focal gliosis (A4) in the brain, apoptotic heart muscle cells and hemorrhage areas (B3) and hyaline degenerations in the heart (B4), sinusoidal dilatation and hyperemia (C3), mononuclear cell infiltration in the liver (C4), and degenerations in the tubular epithelial cells and dilatation and vacuolar degeneration in the glomerulus Bowman's capsule in the kidney (D3) of rats. (1) Control group, (2) Res group, (3) animals treated with 375 mg kg^–1 day^–1: GBH group, (4) animals treated with 20 mg kg^–1 day^–1 Res and 375 mg kg^–1 day^–1 GBH: Res + GBH group.