Role of quercetin in cadmium-induced oxidative stress, testicular damage, and apoptosis in rats

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of quercetin on cadmium-induced oxidative stress, testicular damage, and apoptosis in rat testes. STUDY DESIGN: The rats were randomly allotted into 1 of 3 experimental groups: control, cadmium-treated, and cadmium-treated with quercetin; each group contained 10 animals. Control animals received daily injections of the saline vehicle alone. The cadmium-treated group was injected subcutaneously with cadmium chloride (CdCl2) dissolved in saline at a dose of 2 mL/kg/ day for 30 days, resulting in a dosage of 1 mg/kg cadmium. The rats in quercetin-treated groups were given quercetin (15 mg/kg body weight) once a day i.p., starting 2 days prior to the cadmium injection during the study period. All animals were sacrificed and testes tissues were removed for histopathological and biochemical (malondialdehyde [MDA], superoxide dismutase [SOD], glutathione peroxidase [GSH-Px], and serum testosterone levels) investigation. RESULTS: The mean seminiferous tubule diameter, Johnsen's mean testicular biopsy score values, biochemical parameters (MDA, SOD, GSH-Px, and serum testosterone levels), and amount of germ cell apoptosis were significantly decreased in the cadmium-treated groups as compared to the control group. Furthermore, the quercetin-treated animals showed improved histological and biochemical parameters in the cadmium-treated group. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that quercetin treatment protected testes against toxic effects of cadmium. We believe that further preclinical research into the utility of quercetin may indicate its usefulness as a potential treatment for spermatogenesis after testicular injury caused by cadmium-treated rats. © 2016 Science Printers and Publishers, Inc

Effect of Nigella sativa on biliary obstruction-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in rats

41st FEBS Congress on Molecular and Systems Biology for a Better Life -- SEP 03-08, 2016 -- Kusadasi, TURKEY[No Abstract Available]FEB

Protective effects of quercetin, a flavonoid antioxidant, in absolute ethanol-induced acut gastric ulcer

Free radicals have been reported to be responsible for many ailments including gastroduodenal ulcers. Recent studies demonstrated that quercetin (QE) has an antioxidant effects on injuries caused by various toxic agents in different experimental models. In our study, we examined anti-ulcerogen and antioxidant effects of quercetin on ethanol-induced gastric lesions in rats. QE was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) 50 mg/kg. It was found that pretreatment with QE significantly reduced ethanol-induced gastric damage and malondialdehyde levels, and significantly increased antioxidant enzyme activities. We conclude that QE clearly has antioxidant properties and that the protective effect of QE against ethanol-induced gastric mucosal lesion, at least in part, depends upon the reduction in the lipid peroxidation and an increase in the activity of antioxidant enzymes