Background & Objective(s): Blackberry (BB) ranks highly among fruits with strong antioxidant activities. It contains appreciable levels of phenolic compounds, mainly gallic acid and anthocyanin that have been related to antioxidant activity in these fruits. Acrylamide (ACR) is a chemical with a very wide range of uses in industry. It has been detected in a widely consumed food item and accounts as one of the major health concern. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of BB juice as a natural source of antioxidant with either anthocyanin or gallic acid on the acrylamide harmful effect on kidneys in rats.
Methods: A total of 50 adult male Albino rats equally allocated in five groups were used in this study. Rats in group 1 served as untreated control, group 2 rats were given ACR at dose of 50mg/kg BW, group 3 rats were given anthocyanin at a dose of 5 mg/kg BW + 50 mg/kg BW ACR, group 4 rats were given 3µg/kg gallic acid + 50 mg/kg ACR and group 5 rats were treated with 50 mg/kg BW ACR + 1.6 g/kg BW of BB juice. Rats were administered their respective doses on daily basis for eight weeks.
Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference in body weight gain between experimental groups. It was noticed that ACR caused a significant decrease in some hematological parameters [red blood cell (RBC) count (2.2×106/L), hemoglobin level (9.0 g/dI) and platelet count (206×106/L)] and some antioxidants mean levels [glutathione (GSH) (6.1 μmol/ml), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (302.4 μmol/ml) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (1.3 μmol/ml)] compared to the control group. On the contrary, ACR caused a significant increase in white blood cell (WBC) count, kidney functions [uric acid (5.1 mg/dI), creatinine (1.5 mg/dI) and urea (76.4 mg/dI)], thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), nitric oxide (NO) and tumor markers [Interleukin-6 (IL-6) (209.3 pg/ml), tumor necrosis factor- alpha (TFN-α) (120.5 pg/ml), and tumor suppressor gene (p53) (25.5 pg/ml)] than in the control group. On the other hand, we found that polyphenols caused a significant increase in RBC, hemoglobin, platelets and the best effect was observed with BB juice. The latter significantly increased the levels of GSH, SOD, and TAC, while polyphenols decrease WBC, uric acid, creatinine, urea, TBARS, NO, p53, TFN and IL6 levels compared to the ACR group. Histological examination for kidney tissue showed that ACR can damage the kidney structure but presence of polyphenols especially BB Juice may save kidney from damage.
Conclusion: the result of this study suggested that BB Juice as a natural source of antioxidants is more protective than either anthocyanin or gallic acid alone against ACR toxicity on rat's kidneys.