Oxidative stress-related liver dysfunction by sodium arsenite: Alleviation by Pistacia lentiscus oil

Pistacia lentiscus L. (Anacardiaceae) is an evergreen shrub widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean region. Pistacia lentiscus oil (PLo) was particularly known in North African traditional medicine. Thus, people of these regions have used it externally to treat sore throats, burns and wounds, as well as they employed it internally for respiratory allergies. PLo is rich in essential fatty acids, vitamin E and polyphenols. As a very active site of metabolism, liver is reported to be susceptible to arsenic (As) intoxication.

The present study evaluates the protective effect of PLo against sodium arsenite-induced hepatic dysfunction and oxidative stress in experimental Wistar rats.

Twenty-eight rats were equally divided into four groups; the first served as a control, the remaining groups were respectively treated with PLo (3.3 mL/kg body weight), sodium arsenite (5.55 mg/kg body weight) and a combination of sodium arsenite and PLo. After 21 consecutive days, cellular functions were evaluated by hematological, biochemical and oxidative stress markers.

A significant decrease in the levels of red blood cells, haemoglobin (p ≤ 0.001), hematocrit (p ≤ 0.001), reduced glutathione and metallothionein (p ≤ 0.05) associated with a significant increase of malondialdehyde (p ≤ 0.001) were noticed in the arsenic-exposed group when compared to the control. The As-treated group also exhibited an increase in hepatic antioxidant enzymes namely superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase (p ≤ 0.01) and catalase (p ≤ 0.05). However, the co-administration of PLo has relatively reduced arsenic effect.

The results showed that arsenic intoxication disturbed the liver pro-oxidant/antioxidant status. PLo co-administration mitigates arsenic-induced oxidative damage in rat.