Effects of Nelumbonucifera Gaertn. Petal Tea Extract on Hepatotoxicity and Oxidative Stress Induced by Mancozeb in Rat Model

Abstract

Mancozeb (Mz) is one of the most widely used pesticides that has been reported to cause adverse human health risks. White Nelumbo nucifera (N. nucifera) petals have therapeutic properties to prevent toxicity. Hence, this study attempted to determine the effects of N. nucifera extract on hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress in mancozeb-treated rats. Seventy-two male rats were divided into nine groups and designed with a control; N. nucifera extract was administered at the doses of 0.55, 1.1, and 2.2 mg/kg bw/day, Mz was administered at 500 mg/kg bw/day, and the co-treatment groups (N. nucifera and Mz) were administered 0.55, 1.1, and 2.2 mg/kg bw/day of N. nucifera followed by administering Mz 500 mg/kg bw/day daily for 30 days. The results showed that all doses of N. nucifera extract did not induce hepatic toxicity and could suppress the toxicity of mancozeb by increasing body weight gain and decreasing relative liver weight, lobular inflammation, and total injury score. The combination treatment also decreased the molecular markers of oxidative stress (2-hydroxybutyric acid, 4-hydroxynonenal, l-tyrosine, pentosidine, and N6-carboxymethyllysine). Furthermore, the reduced glutathione and oxidized glutathione contents were adjusted close to the normal level. Therefore, N. nucifera extract is a natural antioxidant supplement that could decrease the toxicity of mancozeb and can be safely consumed.

Keywords: Nelumbo nucifera; glutathione; liver; mancozeb; oxidative stress; pesticides; toxicity.

Figure 1

The 1H-qNMR spectra from blood serum show peak identification: peak 1—2-hydroxybutyric acid; peak 2—4-HNE; peak 3—l-tyrosine; peak 4—pentosidine; peak 5—N6-carboxymethyllysine; peak 6—reduced glutathione; and peak 7—oxidized glutathione.

Figure 2

Effects of N. nucifera extract on histopathological features of livers. (A) histopathological features of livers; necrotic hepatitis, lobular inflammation, and hepatocellular ballooning expressed as mean score ± SE. (B) histopathological features of livers; enlargement, hemorrhage, macro- and micro-vesicular steatosis, fibrosis, and cholestatic hepatitis as mean score ± SE. The results are shown as mean ± SE of n = 8. * p < 0.05 vs. Group I; ^# p < 0.05 vs. Group VI.

Figure 3

Effects of N. nucifera extract on total score injury of liver. The findings are presented as mean ± SE of n = 8. * p < 0.05 vs. Group I; ^# p < 0.05 vs. Group VI.

Figure 4

Photograph of histological changes of liver using hematoxylin and eosin (E,H) staining; 40× scale bar 50 µm. (A): group I; the central vein (CV) of the liver lobule is surrounded by hepatocytes with a regular hepatic architecture. (B): group II, (C): group III, (D): group IV, and (E): group V presented normal histology of central veins and hepatocytes. (F,G): group VI; the liver tissues of this group showed the disorganization of the hepatic parenchymal, necrotic hepatitis (filled black arrow), hepatocellular ballooning (black arrow), and macrophage aggregation (circle). (H): group VII; the hepatocytes displayed hepatocellular ballooning. (I): group VIII; the livers had mild hepatocellular ballooning. (J): group IX; typical hepatocytes almost as group I.

Figure 5

Effects of N. nucifera extract on LPO molecular markers. The values are shown as mean ± SE of n = 8. * p < 0.05 vs. Group I; ^# p < 0.05 vs. Group VI.

Figure 6

Effects of N. nucifera extract on AOPP molecular markers. The data are reported as mean ± SE of n = 8. * p < 0.05 vs. Group I; ^# p < 0.05 vs. Group VI.

Figure 7

Effects of N. nucifera extract on AGE molecular markers. The results are presented as mean ± SE of n = 8. * p < 0.05 vs. Group I; ^# p < 0.05 vs. Group VI.

Figure 8

Effects of N. nucifera extract on glutathione levels. The findings are expressed as mean ± SE of n = 8. * p < 0.05 vs. Group I; ^# p < 0.05 vs. Group VI.