Antioxidant role of hydroxytyrosol on oxidative stress in cadmium-intoxicated rats: different effect in spleen and testes

Abstract

Hydroxytyrosol (2-(3,4dihydroxyphenyl)ethanol, (DPE), a phenolic compound present in olive oil, is known to have antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of DPE on oxidative stress induced by cadmium injections (CdCl₂ 2.5 mg/kg body weight) in spleen and testes of adult male rats. Oxidative stress was evaluated by measuring lipid peroxidation by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities in cytosol and mitochondria.

We found that in spleen no TBARS formation was detected following CdCl₂ injections; however, DPE induces decrease in TBARS level in treated and untreated rats. On the contrary, we observed that DPE showed no effect on cadmium-induced lipid peroxidation in testes. Cytosolic activities of SOD and CAT decreased significantly only in spleen, where DPE restores the values to the control levels. Noteworthy, mitochondrial activities of SOD and CAT were strongly reduced by cadmium treatment both in spleen and testes, and DPE was not be able to restore their activity. Overall, the results from this study indicated that the DPE has different antioxidant efficiency in spleen and testis of cadmium intoxicated rats.

• Catalase
• food antioxidant
• lipid peroxidation
• mitochondria
• superoxide dismutase

Acknowledgements

Funding for this work was provided by the University of Bari, Fondi di Ateneo 2010. The authors are grateful to Mrs. Arianna Storelli for providing linguistic advice and to Mr. Gaetano Devito for excellent technical assistance in animals treatment.