EFFECT OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS ON LABORATORY ANIMALS EXPOSED TO ALUMINUM POISONING
Keywords:
Ganoderma lucidum, Cucurbita pepo, aluminum chloride, Biochemical parameters, hematologyAbstract
Aluminum is a widespread environmental contaminant associated with numerous physiological and biochemical disorders, particularly affecting hematological parameters, organ function, and oxidative balance. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of Cucurbita pepo and Ganoderma lucidum against aluminum chloride (AlCl₃)-induced toxicity in male rats. Methods: Thirty adult male rats were randomly assigned to six groups (n = 5): control, AlCl₃ (40 mg/kg body weight), C. pepo, G. lucidum, C. pepo + AlCl₃, and G. lucidum + AlCl₃. Treatments were administered orally for 28 consecutive days. At the end of the experiment, body and organ weights, hematological indices, liver and kidney function biomarkers, and oxidative stress parameters were evaluated. Results: AlCl₃ exposure significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced red blood cell count, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, granulocyte count, platelet count, and glutathione levels, while significantly increasing body, liver, and kidney weights, white blood cell and monocyte counts, serum uric acid, urea, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and malondialdehyde levels. No significant changes were observed in lymphocyte count or spleen weight. Co-administration of C. pepo or G. lucidum significantly ameliorated AlCl₃-induced alterations by improving hematological and antioxidant status and reducing hepatic, renal, inflammatory, and oxidative stress markers. However, spleen weight and lymphocyte count remained unaffected. Conclusion: Cucurbita pepo and Ganoderma lucidum exhibit significant protective effects against AlCl₃-induced toxicity in male rats through enhancement of antioxidant defenses, attenuation of oxidative stress, and improvement of hematological, hepatic, and renal functions, suggesting their potential therapeutic value as natural protective agents against aluminum toxicity.
References
Adeneye A.; Olagunju J.; Elias S.; Olatunbosun D. and Mustafa A. Protective activities of the aqueous root extract of Harungana madagascariensis in acute and repeated acetaminophen hepatotoxic rats. Int J of Applied Res in Natural Products. (2008); 3: 29-42.
Adikwu, E. and Deo, O. Hepatoprotective Effect of Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid). Pharmacology & Pharmacy. (2013), 4: 84-92.
Ahmad, M.F.; Ahmad,F.A.; Zeyaullah, M.; Alsayegh, A.A.; Mahmood, S.E.; AlShahrani, A.M.; Khan, M.S.; Shama,E.; Hamouda, A.; Elbendary, E.Y.; etal. G. lucidum: Novel Insight into Hepatoprotective Potential with Mechanisms of Action. Nutrients, 2023, 15,1874. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15081874
Al-Hashem F, Dallak M, Bashir N, Abbas M, Elessa R. Camel's milk protects against cadmium chloride induced toxicity in white albino rats. American Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology. (2009), 4 (3):107-117.
Ayyildiz, H.F.; Topkafa, M.; Kara, H. Pumpkin (C. pepo L.) Seed Oil. In Fruit Oils: Chemistry and Functionality; Ramadan, M.F., Ed.; Springer International Publishing: Cham, Switzerland, 2019; pp. 765–788. ISBN 978-3-030-12473-1.
Babu, P. D. And Subhasree, R.S. (2008). "The Sacred Mushroom “Reishi”-A Review." American-Eurasian Journal of Botany1(3): 107-111.
Bassam, Z; and Shakhashiri. (2007). "Chemical of the week aluminium". Science is Fun. Retieved on 08-28.
Batool, M.; Ranjha, M.M.A.N.; Roobab, U.; Manzoor, M.F.; Farooq, U.; Nadeem, H.R.; Nadeem, M.; Kanwal, R.; Abd Elgawad, H.;Al Jaouni,S.K.;etal. Nutritional Value, Phytochemical Potential, and Therapeutic Benefits of Pumpkin (C. sp.). Plants 2022, 11, 1394. https://doi.org/10.3390/ plants11111394.
Bekhedda H, Menadi N, Demmouche A, Ghani A, Mai H, Histological study of the effects of aluminum chloride exposure on the brain of wistar rat’s female, Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics. 2020; 10(3-s): 37-42. https://doi.org/10.22270/jddt.v10i3-s.4152
Caili, F.; Huan, S.; Quanhong, L. A Review on Pharmacological Activities and Utilization Technologies of Pumpkin. Mater. Veg. 2006, 61, 70–77. DOI: 10.1007/s11130-006-0016-6
Chan TK., Li K., Lam Liu S, Chu KH, Toh M, Xieand WD. C.cin B inhibits STAT3 and the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway in leukemia cell line K562. Cancer Lett. 2010; 289: 46-52.
Chen, S.; Xu, J.; Liu, C.; Zhu, Y.; Nelson, D.R.; Zhou, S.; Li, C.; Wang, L.; Guo, X.; Sun, Y.; et al. Genome sequence of the model medicinal mushroom G. lucidum. Nat. Commun. 2012, 3, 913. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1923
Cheraghi, E and Roshanaei, K. The protective effect of curcumin against aluminum chlorideinduced oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity in rats. Pharm Biomed Res 2019;5(1): 11-18.
Dabdoub, B. R; Mohammed, R.H. and Abdulhadi, H, L. G. lucidum attenuates and prevents CCL4 induced hepatic and renal damage in spragu dawley rats. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy. 2020;11(12):1704-1709. https://www.sysrevpharm.org/articles/ganoderma-lucidum-attenuates-and-prevents-ccl4induced-hepatic-and-renal-damage-in-sprague--dawley-rats.pdf
DeVoto E, Yokel RA. The biological speciation and toxicokinetics of aluminum. Environ Health Perspect 1994; 102:940-51. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.94102940
ElKady, L.A .; El Rayes, S.M.; Soliman, A.H.; Shana, O.; Khalil, W.F.; Aboulthana, W.M and Kholoud Khaled Emam, K.K. Ganoderma lucidum Effect on Hepato-Nephrotoxicity Induced by Trihalomethanes in Wistar Albino Rats. Egypt. J. Chem. 2025, Vol. 68, No.4. pp. 309 – 317.
Essam El-Din, M.M and El-Mowafy, M.A. Efficacy of G. (G. lucidum) Against Nephrotoxicity Induced by Cisplatin in Male Rats. Egypt. J. of Nutrition and Health. 2014, Vol. 9 No. 1.
Exley C. The pro-oxidant activity of aluminum. Free Radic Biol Med 2004; 36:380-87. DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2003.11.017
Exley C. The pro-oxidant activity of aluminum. Free Radic Biol Med 2004; 36: 380-87.
Fiona, H. and Latunde-Dada, G.: Iron Bioavailability from a Tropical leafy vegetable in anemic mice. Nutr. Metab. (2011), 8:9.
Ganchev T, Dyankov E, Zacharieva R, Pachalieva I, Velikova M, Kavaldjieva B. Influence of aluminium on erythropoiesis, iron metabolism, and some functional characteristics of erythrocytes in rats. Acta Physiologica et Pharmacologica Bulgarica. (1998), 23:27– 31.
Guidet B, shah SV. Am J. Physiol. 1989; 257(26):440. cited by Muslih RK, Al-Nimer MS, Al-Zamely OY. The level of Malondialdehyde after activation with H2O2 and CuSO4 and inhibition by deferoxamine and Molsidomine in the serum of patient with acute Myocardial infarction. National journal of chemistry. 2002; (5): 139-148.
Haen PJ. Principles of hematology. Wm. C. Brown publishers. USA. 1995.
Halliwell B.; Aeschbach R.; Loliger J. and Aruoma O. The characterization of antioxidants. J. Food Chemical. Toxicity. (1995), 33: 601-617.
Halliwell, Barry. “Antioxidants in human health and disease.” Annual Review of Nutrition, Vol. 16, No. 1, 1996, pp. 33-50.
Han J, Dunn MA. Effect of dietary aluminum on tissue nonheme iron and ferritin levels in the chick. Toxicology. (2000), 142(2):97-109.
Huang, C.-H.; Lin, W.-K.; Chang, S.-H.; Tsai, G.-J. Evaluation of the hypoglycaemic and antioxidant effects of submerged G. lucidum cultures in type 2 diabetic rats. Mycology 2020, 12, 82–93. doi: 10.1080/21501203.2020.1733119
Ikechukwu, O.I; Ephraim, I and Nanacha, A. I. Aluminium toxicosis: a review of toxic actions and effects. Interdiscip Toxicol. 2019; Vol. 12(2): 45–70. DOI: 10.2478/intox-2019-0007.
John, Ogbe Raphael, Adenkola Adeshina Yahaya, and Anefu Emmanuel. “Aqueous ethanolic extract of Mangifera indica stem bark effect on the biochemical and haematological parameters of albino rats.” Archives of Applied Science Research, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2012, pp. 1618-22.
Landi, N.; Clemente, A.; Pedone, P.V.; Ragucci, S.; Di Maro, A. An Updated Review of Bioactive Peptides from Mushrooms in a Well-Defined Molecular Weight Range. Toxins 2022, 14, 84. DOI: 10.3390/toxins14020084 .
Mahieu, S; ContiniMdel,C; González, M and Millen, N. Melatonin reduces oxidative damage induced by aluminium in rat kidney Toxicol. Lett., 190 (2009), pp. 9-15.
Mailloux RJ, Lemire J, Appanna VD. Hepatic response to aluminum toxicity: dyslipidemia and liver diseases. Exp Cell Res 2011; 317:2231-38. DOI: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2011.07.009
National Research Council (NRC) 1995. Nutrient requirement of laboratory animals, general considerations for feeding and diet formulation. 3–50. Washington, DC, U.S.A.: National Academy Press.
Nwinuka, Nwibani M., Michael O. Monanu, and Barine I. Nwiloh. “Effects of aqueous extract of Mangifera indica L.(mango) stem bark on haematological parameters of normal albino rats.” Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 7, No. 5, 2008, pp. 663-66.
Othman, S; Fareid, S; Abdel Hameed, R. And Abdel Moneim, A. The protective effects of melatonin on aluminum-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in rats Oxid. Med. Cell. Longev., 2020 (2020), Article 7375136.
Ratnam N, Vandana, Najibullah M, Ibrahim M. A review on C. pepo. International Journal of Pharmaconosy and Phytochemical Research. 2017;9(9):1190-1194. doi: https://doi.org/10.25258/phyto.v9i09.10305
Reddy M.; Ali M.; Kumari A. and Pardhasaradhi B. Differential cytotoxic effects of Annona squamosa seed extracts on human tumour cell lines: Role of reactive oxygen species and glutathione, Indian Academy of Sciences. (2005), 30(2): 237–244.
Reeves, B.G., F.H. Nielson, and G.C. Fahmy. 1993. Reported of the American Institute of nutrition. Adhoc-wrilling committee on the reformulation of the A.I.N. 1979-Ardent Diet. Journal of Nutrition 123: 1939–51. DOI: 10.1093/jn/123.11.1939
Saeleaw M, Schleining G. Composition, physicochemical and morphological characterization of pumpkin flour. In: ICEF11- 11th International Congress on Engineering and Food “Food Process Engineering in a Changing World”. Athens, Greece; 2011.
Salazar, J.H. Overview of urea and creatinine Lab. Med., 45 (2014), pp. e19-e20.
Sedlak J, Lindsay RH. Analytical biochemistry.1968; Pp: 192. Cited by Al-Zamyle (2001).
Shi, Min, Zhenya Zhang, and Yingnan Yang. “Antioxidant and immunoregulatory activity of G. lucidum polysaccharide (GLP).” Carbohydrate Polymers, Vol. 95, No. 1, 2013, pp. 200-06.
Sliva D. Cellular and physiological effects of G. lucidum (Reishi). Med Chem Oct. 2004, 4(8): 873-879.
Stoehr,G; Luebbers, K; Wilhelm, M; Hoelzer, J; and Ohmann, C. Aluminum load in ICU patients during stress ulcer prophylaxis Eur. J. Intern. Med., 17 (2006), pp. 561-566.
Tanko, Y., et al. “Haemostatic effect of aqueous extract of mushroom (G. lucidum).” European Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol. 2, No. 6, 2012, pp. 2015-18.
Tarhan L, Kayali HA, Urek RO. In vitro antioxidant properties of C. pepo L. male and female flowers extracts. Plant food Hum Nutr. 2007; 62: 4951.
Tietz NW. Textbook of clinical chemistry. 3rded. C.A.Burtis, E.R.Ashwood, W.B.Saunders. 1999; Pp: 819-861,1245-1250.
Wang S, Huang W, Liu C, Wang M, Ho C, Huang W, et al. Pumpkin (C. moschata) fruit extract improves physical fatigue and exercise performance in mice. Molecules. 2012;17(10):11864-11876. DOI: 10.3390/molecules171011864
WHO. Preventing and controlling iron deficiency anemia through primary health care. 1989.
Xu GH. A study of the possible antitumour effect and immunom petence of pumpkin polysaccharide. J Wuhan Prof Med Coll. 2002;28:1-4.
Zhou T, Kong Q, Huang J, Dai R, Li Q. Characterization of nutritional components and utilization of pumpkin. Food. 2007;1(2):313-321. http://www.globalsciencebooks.info/Online/GSBOnline/images/0712/FOOD_1(2)/FOOD_1(2)313-321o.pdf
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
CC BY
This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. CC BY includes the following elements:
BY: credit must be given to the creator.
