Objective: The objective was to study the efficacy of oral supplementation of gossypin, a flavonoid, during lead exposure in preventive alterations in the heme synthesis pathway, brain oxidation, and tissue lead uptake in rats.
Methods: Male rats were used for the experiment and were exposed to lead (0.5% in drinking water) or lead plus oral supplementation of gossypin (25 or 100mg/kg) for 3 wk to determine the preventive effect of gossypin against lead toxicity. Animals were sacrificed after 3 wk for various biochemical variables suggestive of oxidative stress and heme synthesis pathway in addition to the concentration of lead in the blood and brain.
Results: Exposure to lead produced significant inhibition in the activity of blood delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase accompanied by an increase in urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid and the levels of reactive oxygen species. There were significant alterations in the levels of glutathione, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, reactive oxygen species, and superoxide dismutase activity on lead exposure. Most of these alterations were significantly prevented by oral coadministration of gossypin, particularly at the dose of 100mg/kg.
Conclusion: The antioxidant and moderate chelating properties of oral gossypin suggest a promising role in use either as a nutritional supplement during lead exposure or as a complementary chelating agent during chelation therapy.
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