Thyme and Oregano Oil Potential Therapeutics against Malathion Toxicity through Biochemical, Histological, and Cytochrome P450 1A2 Activities in Male Wistar Rats

Abstract

The widespread use of malathion may offer several hazards to humans and animals; additionally, many medicinal plants provide what is known as a broad antitoxicity treatment. This study was carried out to investigate hazardous biochemical and histological reactions to MOP and evaluate the effectiveness of TEO and OEO essential oils in restoring normal physiological conditions after MOP exposure by measuring enzyme-specific activity for Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2). One hundred and twenty rats were divided into six groups of twenty animals each: (i) C - MOP served as the control group, (ii) C + MOP treated with 5 mg/kg/BW of Malathion-D10, (iii) TEO treated with 100 mg/kg/BW of oregano essential oil, (iv) TEO treated with 100 mg/kg/BW of thyme essential oil, (v) MOP + OEO treated with 5 mg/kg/BW of Malathion-D10 and 100 mg/kg/BW of oregano essential oil, and (vi) MOP + TEO treated with 5 mg/kg/BW of Malathion-D10 and 100 mg/kg/BW of thyme essential oil. The results indicated the protective effects of OEO and TEO against MOP-induced weight loss. Additionally, there was a significant improvement in ALT, AST, and ALK-Ph after being treated with OEO and TEO, either alone or after MOP exposure. Also, treatment with OEO and TEO ameliorated these oxidative stress parameters, indicating their antioxidative properties. A histopathological examination of liver tissues showed reduced hepatocellular damage and improved liver architecture in the OEO and TEO, both alone and in combination with MOP, and protective effects were more pronounced in the TEO-treated groups. However, the results indicated that TEO was more effective than OEO in increasing CYP1A2 expression and alleviating MOP-induced toxicity. Specifically, TEO showed higher protein expression and therapeutic action in reducing liver damage. In conclusion, these findings suggest that OEO and TEO may be potent therapeutic agents against MOP toxicity, offering protective effects by enhancing CYP1A2 activity and mitigating organ damage. Such knowledge would be an important step toward developing potentially unique treatment options for natural antitoxins.

Keywords: antitoxic; cytochrome P450; malathion; oregano essential oil; thyme essential oil.

Figure 1

Schematic diagram showing the experimental protocol for thyme and oregano oils’ potentially therapeutic effects against malathion toxicity through biochemical, histological, and cytochrome P450 1A2 activities.

Figure 2

Effect of the thyme and oregano oils as potential therapeutics against malathion toxicity on histopathological changes in liver tissues stained with H&E (magnification ×100 and ×400) in the male rats. (A): Liver tissue from C − MOP group showing normal hepatic architecture. (B): Liver tissue from C + MOP group showing hepatic fibrosis, necrosis, and inflammation. (C): Liver tissue from OEO group showing hepatic steatosis and mild fibrosis. (D): Liver tissue from TEO group showing hepatocellular enlargement and mild inflammation. (E): Liver tissue from MOP + OEO group showing reduced hepatocellular damage and inflammation. (F): Liver tissue from MOP + TEO group showing significant improvement in hepatic architecture and reduced fibrosis. Dotted black circles: normal hepatic nodules. Black arrow: Sinusoids contained numerous Kupffer cells. Yellow arrow: hepatic macrophages. Blue arrow: Bowman’s capsules. Black star: hexagonal lobules, each with a central vein at its core.

Figure 3

Effect of the thyme and oregano oils as potential therapeutics against malathion toxicity on cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) gene expression in the male rats.

Figure 4

Effect of the thyme and oregano oils as potential therapeutics against malathion toxicity on identity matrix data based on the alignment data of the cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) gene sequences in the male rats.

Figure 5

Effect of the thyme and oregano oils as potential therapeutics against malathion toxicity on phylogenetic tree based on cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) gene sequences in the male rats. BLAST searches were used to obtain the sequences from the NCBI and UniProt databases. The JTT evolutionary model was used to produce a maximum-likelihood tree, and ancestors were inferred using GRASP’s joint reconstruction technique.

Figure 6

Effect of the thyme and oregano oils as potential therapeutics against malathion toxicity on the phylogenetic tree based on the SDS-PAGE gel electrophoresis results of the protein profiles of the male rats.

Figure 7

Effect of the thyme and oregano oils as potential therapeutics against malathion toxicity on phylogenetic tree based on visual Cyp1a2 tree phylogenetic analysis of the male rats.