Protective effects of zinc and selenium against benzene toxicity in rats

Abstract

The presented study investigates the protective role of zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se) in attenuating benzene-induced toxicity in rats. Male Sprague—Dawley rats were injected with benzene (0.5 mL/kg body weight ip) and received a diet supplement containing Zn and Se. Several hematological and biochemical parameters (representing antioxidant status) were estimated. Histopathological examinations were performed. Results showed that food intake and body weight gain of benzene-injected rats were significantly lower than that of the control rats. Benzene-injected rats showed increased plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreased activity of: glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymes, as well as reduced glutathione (GSH) when compared to the control group. Histopathological investigations revealed structural changes in benzene-injected rats’ liver. Supplementation with Zn and Se resulted in a significant decrease in MDA, elevation in GSH, GSH-Px, SOD and catalase levels. This study shows that Zn and Se supplementation can improve the activity of antioxidant enzymes in rats and decrease the histological anomalies induced by benzene toxicity as well.

Keywords

Benzene injection zinc selenium antioxidant enzymes histological anomalies

References

Ahmad S. Singh V. , and Rao GS ( 1994) Antioxidant potential in serum and liver of albino rats exposed to benzene. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology 32: 203-206.

Aleksandrowicz J. , Starek A. , and Moszczynski P. ( 1977) Effect of selenium on peripheral blood in rats chronically exposed to benzene. Medical Public Relations 28: 453-459.

Ammerman CB , Chapman HL , Bouwman GW , Fontenot JP , Bagley CP , and Moxon AL ( 1980) Effect of supplemental selenium for beef cows on the performance and tissue selenium concentrations of cows and suckling calves Journal of Animal Science 51: 1381-1386.

Arthur JR and Boyne R. ( 1985) Superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities in neutrophils from selenium deficient and copper deficient cattle . Life Science 36: 1569-1575.

ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) ( 1997) Toxicological profile for benzene (update) Public Health Service, US Department of Health and Human Services , Atlanta, GA.

Bar A. ( 1999) Characteristics and significance of d-tagatose-induced liver enlargement in rats: an interpretative review. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 29: S83-S93.

Beers RF Jr and Sizer IW ( 1952) A spectrophotometric method for measuring the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide by catalase. Journal Biological Chemistry 195: 133-140.

Beutler E. , Duron O. , and Aelly BM ( 1963) Improved method for the determination of blood glutathione . Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 61: 882-890.

Bolkent S. , Arda-Pirincci P. , Bolkent S. , Yanardag R. , Tunali S. , and Yildirim S. ( 2006) Influence of zinc sulfate intake on acute ethanol-induced liver injury in rats. World Journal of Gastroenterol 12: 4345-4351.

10.

Brenneisen P. ( 2005) Selenium, oxidative stress, and health aspects . Molecular Aspects of Medicine 26: 256-267.

11.

Cabre M. , Ferre N. , Folch J. , Paternain JL , Hernandez M. , del Castillo D. , et al (1999) Inhibition of hepatic cell nuclear DNA fragmentation by zinc in carbon tetrachloride-treated rats. Journal of Hepatology 31: 228-234.

12.

Chvapil M. , Ryan JN , and Zukoski CF ( 1972) Effect of zinc on lipid peroxidation in liver microsomes and mitochondria. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 141: 150-153.

13.

Combs GF and Combs SB ( 1984) The nutritional biochemistry of selenium. Annual Review of Nutrition 4: 257-280.

14.

Combs GF Jr ( 2001) Impact of selenium and cancer prevention findings on the nutrition-health paradigm. Nutrition and Cancer 40: 6-11.

15.

Cotrim HP , De Freitas LA , Freitas C. , Braga L. , Sousa R. , Carvalho F. , et al (2004) Clinical and histopathological features of NASH in workers exposed to chemicals with or without associated metabolic conditions. Liver International 24: 131-135.

16.

Czerski J. and Szymanska J.A. ( 2005) The effect of repeated administration of selected benzene bromoderivatives on the liver catalase activity in rats. International Journal of Occupational Medicine & Environmental Health 18: 275-279.

17.

d’Azevedo PA , Tannhauser M. , Tannhauser SL , and Barros HM ( 1996) Hematological alterations in rats from xylene and benzene . Veterinary and Human Toxicology 38: 340-344.

18.

Dempster AM , Evans HL and Snyder CA ( 1984) The temporal relationship between behavioral and hematological effects of inhaled benzene. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 76: 195-203.

19.

Draper HH and Beeger WJ ( 1994) In Free Radicals in Diagnostic Medicine, Armstrong D (ed.). Plenum Press: New York, 269-289.

20.

Drury RAB and Wallington EA ( 1980) Carleton’ S. Histological Technique. 5th Ed., New York: Oxford University Press.

21.

Duncan DB ( 1955) Multiple range and multiple F-tests. Biometrics 11: 1-12.

22.

Eckert GK ( 1988) The metabolism of aminophenols in erythrocytes . Xenobiotica 18: 1319-1326.

23.

Emara AM and El-Bahrawy H. ( 2008) Green tea attenuates benzene-induced oxidative stress in pump workers. Journal of Immunotoxicology 5(1): 69-80.

24.

Escorcia BE , Lezama VR , Torres MA , Monroy OMV , Padilla FM , Aguilar MJ , et al. (1997) Aplastic anemia: a model for its induction by oral and subcutaneous benzene in rats. Sangre ( Barc) 42: 357-62.

25.

Goel A. and Dhawan DK ( 2001) Zinc supplementation prevents liver injury in chlorpyrifos-treated rats. Biological Trace Element Research 82: 185-200.

26.

Goel A. , Dani V. , and Dhawan DK ( 2005) Protective effects of zinc on lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymes and hepatic histoarchitecture in chlorpyrifos-induced toxicity. Chemico-Biological Interactions 156: 131-140.

27.

Heijne WH , Jonker D. , Stierum RH , van Ommen B. , and Groten JP ( 2005) Toxicogenomic analysis of gene expression changes in rat liver after a 28-day oral benzene exposure. Mutation Research 575: 85-101.

28.

Kalender S. , Kalender Y. , Ogutcu A. , Uzunhisarikli M. , Durak D. , and Anikgoz F. ( 2004) Endosulfan-induced cardiotoxicity and free radical metabolism in rats: the protective effect of vitamin E. Toxicology 202: 227-235.

29.

Machlin LJ and Bendich A. ( 1987) Free radical tissue damage: protective role of antioxidant nutrients. FASEB 1: 441-445.

30.

Mansour SA and Mossa AH (2010) Oxidative damage, biochemical and histopathological alterations in rats exposed to chlorpyrifos and the antioxidant role of zinc. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology 96: 14-23.

31.

Madej JA , Houszka M. , and Peryt A. ( 1987) Pathomorphological picture of various internal organs of rats after long-term exposure to toxic substances in raw coke gas . Polskie archiwum weterynaryjne 24: 559-570.

32.

McPherson A. ( 1994) Selenium vitamin E and biological oxidation. In: Cole DJ , Garnsworthy PJ (eds) Recent advances in animal nutrition . Oxford: Butterworth and Heinemann’s , 3-30.

33.

Minotti G. ( 1992) The role of endogenous non-heme iron in microsomal redox reactions. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 297:189-198.

34.

NRC (1996) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. National Research Council . Washington, DC: Academic Press , 12.

35.

Nuckels CF ( 1990) Vitamin needs increase during stress disease. Poultry Adviser 23: 49-53.

36.

O’Dell BL ( 2000) Role of zinc in plasma membrane function. The Journal of Nutrition 130: 1432S-1436S.

37.

Ozardali I. , Bitiren M. , Karakilcik AZ , Zerin M. , Aksoy N. , and Musa D. ( 2004) Effects of selenium on histopathological and enzymatic changes in experimental liver injury of rats. Experimental and Toxicologic Pathology 56: 59-64.

38.

Pandya KP , Rao GS , Khan S. , and Krishnamurthy R. (1990) Accumulation of low molecular weight (bleomycin detectable) iron in bone marrow cells of rats after benzene exposure. Archives of Toxicology 64: 339-342.

39.

Parat MO , Richard MJ , Beani JC , and Favier A. ( 1997) Involvement of zinc in intracellular oxidant/antioxidant balance. Biological Trace Element Research 60: 187-204.

40.

Parke DV ( 1996) Personal reflections on 50 years of study of benzene toxicology . Environmental health perspectives 104: 1123-1128.

41.

Prasad AS ( 1993) Zinc and enzymes. In: AS Prasad (ed.) Biochemistry of Zinc. New York: Plenum Press, 17-53.

42.

Reeves PG , Nielsen FH , and Fahey GC Jr (1993) AIN-93 purified diets for laboratory rodents: final report of the American Institute of Nutrition ad hoc writing committee on the reformulation of the AIN-76A rodent diet. The Journal of Nutrition 123: 1939-1951.

43.

Rao NR and Snyder R. ( 2000) Oxidative modifications produced in HL-60 cells on exposure to benzene metabolites. Journal of Applied Toxicology 15: 403 - 409.

44.

Ross D. ( 1996) Metabolic basis of benzene toxicity. European Journal of Haematology 60: 111-118.

45.

Rouach H. , Fataccioli V. , Gentil M. , French SW , Morimoto M. , and Nordmann R. ( 1997) Effect of chronic ethanol feeding on lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation in relation to liver pathology. Hepatology 25: 351-355.

46.

Sandstead HH ( 1994) Understanding zinc: Recent observations and interpretations . The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 124: 322-327.

47.

Saillenfait AM , Gallissot F. , Sabate JP , Bourges-Abella N. , Cadot R. , Morel G. , and Lambert AM ( 2006) Developmental toxicity of combined ethylbenzene and methylethylketone administered by inhalation to rats. Food and Chemical Toxicology 44: 1287-1298.

48.

Satoh K. ( 1978) Serum lipid peroxide in cerebrovascular disorders determined by a new colorimetric method. Clinica Chimica Acta 90: 37-43.

49.

Shaw S. , Jayatilleke E. , and Lieber CS ( 1988) Lipid peroxidation as a mechanism of alcoholic liver injury: role of iron mobilization and microsomal induction. Alcohol 5: 135-140.

50.

Shimo T. , Onodera H. , Matsushima Y. , Todate A. , Mitsumori K. , Maekawa A. , and Takahashi M. ( 1994) A 28- day repeated dose toxicity study of nitrobenzene in F344 rats. Eisei Shikenjo Hokoku 112: 71-81.

51.

Sidhu P. , Grag ML , and Dhawan DK ( 2004) Protective role of zinc in nickel induced heparotoxicity in rats Chimico-Biological Interaction 150: 199-209.

52.

Smith AK and Circle SJ ( 1971) Proteins. In: Soybeans: Chemistry and Technology . Vol. I. Wesport, CT: AVI Publishing Company, 213-216.

53.

Szymanska JA ( 1998) Hepatotoxicity of brominated benzenes: relationship between chemical structure and hepatotoxic effects in acute intoxication of mice. Archives of Toxicology 72: 97-103.

54.

Valko M. , Rhodes CJ , Moncol J. , Izakovic M. , and Mazur M. ( 2006) Free radicals, metals and antioxidants in oxidative stress-induced cancer. Chemico-Biological Interaction 160: 1-40.

55.

van Kampen E. and Zijlstra WG ( 1961) Standardization of hemoglobinometry. II. The hemiglobincyanide method. Clinica Chimica Acta. 6:538-544.

56.

Yamamura K. , Katoh T. , Kikuchi M. , Yoshikawa M. & Aoshidani K. ( 1999) Effect of benzene exposure on hematology and hepatic drug metabolic enzymes in ethanol administrated rats. J UOEH 21: 29-35.