The toxicity of PCBs in the living systems is associated with oxidative effects among others. In view of the involvement of antioxidant defense mechanisms in the detoxification of POPs, the present study was undertaken to assess the toxic effects of low dose (0.1 and 1 mg kg-1d-1) and long exposure (7, 14, 21 and 28 days) of Aroclor 1254 on glutathione content, specific activities of few antioxidant related enzymes and histopathological changes in the liver tissue of male mice. The obtained results indicated alterations in the enzyme activities of antioxidant related defense mechanisms. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) showed significant increase in the specific activity, while, glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and reduced glutathione (GSH) showed a significant duration dependent decreasing trend. Further, Aroclor 1254 induced oxidative stress might have caused the observed histopathological alterations, such as intravascular blood corpuscles accumulation, lipid granulomas, lipid deposition, cellular fibrosis, sinusoidal degeneration and cellular aggregation in the liver tissue of mice. These pathophysiological changes in the liver tissue could be due to the generation of free radicals.
Key words: PCBs; aroclor 1254; antioxidant enzymes; histopathology; liver; mice
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