Involvement of metallothionein, homocysteine and B-vitamins in the attenuation of arsenic-induced uterine disorders in response to the oral application of hydro-ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera seed: a preliminary study

Abstract

The painful invasive chelation therapy makes it challenging to continue the prolonged treatment against arsenic toxicity. Hence, the significance of the present preliminary investigation was to explore a noninvasive treatment strategy against sodium arsenite (As³⁺) by the use of a hydroethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera (MO) seed. Arsenic treatment (10 mg/kg body-weight) in animals showed significant level of oxidative stress as evidenced by increased serum levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), conjugated dienes (CD) and reduced level of non-protein thiol (NPSH). A significant diminution in the activities of enzymatic antioxidants was noted in As³⁺-treated rats. As³⁺ treatment showed a lengthy phase of metestrous in animals followed by significantly diminished ovarian steroidogenesis, increased ovarian follicular degeneration and distortion of uterine tissue histomorphology. In addition, there was a significant depletion of Vitamin-B₉ (folate) and B₁₂ following As³⁺ ingestion. The levels of circulating TNF-α, homocysteine (Hcy), uterine-IL-6, and liver metallothionein (MT-1) were significantly elevated in arsenic treated rats. MO at a dose of 100 mg/kg body-weight could successfully mitigate the uterine ROS generation by maintaining the uterine antioxidant status in As³⁺- treated rats. This seed extract prevented the deterioration of As³⁺-mediated ovarian-steroidogenesis and ovarian and uterine histoarchitecture significantly. B₉ and B₁₂ levels were also improved following the ingestion of the MO extract in arsenicated animals. Elevation of Hcy, TNF-α and IL-6 was also prevented by this MO seed extract in As³⁺-treated rats. A further increase of MT-1 level was achieved after MO ingestion in As³⁺-treated rats. Here, the alleviation of arsenic toxicity might involve via the regulation of the components of S-adenosine methionine (SAM) pool and MT-1.

KEYWORDS:

• Arsenic toxicity
• Moringa oleifera
• oxidative stress
• SAM
• uterus

Acknowledgements

We also acknowledged Mr. Nirmalya Kumar Sinha, Raja N.L. Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India for his co-operation for statistical analysis of data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledged the funding from the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of West Bengal for this investigation (1212(Sanc.)/ST/P/S&T/1G-13/2015).