Imidacloprid may induce oxidative stress leading to generate free
radicals and alternate oxygen free radical scavenging enzyme system.
This study aims to investigate the hepatoprotective effect of broccoli
water extract and ferulic acid on imidacloprid induced oxidative stress
and DNA damage in male albino rats. Rats were co-treated with
broccoli water extract (200 mg/kg) or ferulic acid (20 mg/kg) with
imidacloprid (80 mg/kg) orally for 28 days.The results revealed that
imidacloprid induced high serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase
(AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase
(ALP). However, administration of broccoli and ferulic acid reduced
these parameters. Broccoli and ferulic acid significantly (P<0.05)
attenuated the imidacloprid-induced increases in lipid peroxidation
(LPO), tumor necroses factor
(TNF-
) and nitric oxide (NO) contents
and meyloperoxidase (MPO), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and
glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activities. Imidacloprid
decreased reduced glutathione (GSH) while co-treatment with broccoli
and ferulic acid significantly (P<0.05) improved the level of GSH.
DNA damage as assessed by comet assay was increased in
imidacloprid-treated group. However, DNA damage was decreased in broccoli and ferulic acid treated groups. The possible mechanism of
broccoli and ferulic acid extract on imidacloprid might be due to
decreasing oxidative stress (LPO, NO and DNA damage) and
increasing GSH content. Thus, broccoli and ferulic acid was suggested
to protected rat's liver against imidacloprid-induced oxidative stress and
DNA damage in liver.