Oxidative stress induced by atrazine in rat erythrocytes: mitigating effect of vitamin E

The present study investigates the propensity of atrazine to induce oxidative stress and its possible attenuation by vitamin E in rat erythrocytes, which is a convenient model to understand the oxidative damage induced by various xenobiotics. Experimental animals were administered atrazine (300 mg/kg body weight, daily) and/or vitamin E (100 mg/kg body weight, daily) orally for a period of 7, 14, and 21 days. Results indicated that the reduced glutathione (GSH) content of the erythrocytes of atrazine treated rats was significantly decreased as compared to the control group. Co-administration of vitamin E along with atrazine restored the GSH content of erythrocytes nearly to control levels. The activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione-s-transferase were found to be increased significantly in the erythrocytes accompanied by a decrease in the activity of the glucose-6-phosophate dehydrogenase, following atrazine exposure. On the other hand, when vitamin E was co-administered along with atrazine, activities of these enzymes were found to be restored significantly. In conclusion, results of the study demonstrated that atrazine induced oxidative stress in rat erythrocytes, in terms of increased activities of the various antioxidant enzymes, and decreased content of reduced glutathione. However, vitamin E administration ameliorated the effects of atrazine, suggesting that vitamin E is a potential antioxidant against atrazine-induced oxidative stress.