PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF CURCUMIN ON LIPID PEROXIDATION AND ANTIOXIDANT STATUS AGAINST CADMIUM CHLORIDE TOXICITY IN HEART (AURICLES AND VENTRICLES) OF ALBINO MICE

Cadmium can cause various health problems even at low concentrations by inducing oxidative damage in tissues of organisms. Nowadays, the focus has been raised toward the use of herbal treatment against heavy metal toxicity. Hence, the present research work was aimed to investigate the protective effect of curcumin against Cd-induced toxicity in the auricles and ventricles of the heart in albino mice. Mice were equally divided into 8 groups, with 5 mice in every group. The experiment was performed in two intervals of for 15 and 45 days. Mice were divided into the following groups: control, CdCl₂ (1mg/kg bw of Cd daily), CdCl₂+Curcumin (1mg/kg bw of Cd daily+100 mg/kg bw of Curcumin on alternate days), and Curcumin (100 mg/kg bw of Curcumin on alternate days) and then marked as group 1, 2, 3 and 4 for 15 days and group 5, 6, 7 and 8 for 45 days interval. Animals were sacrificed after 15 and 45 days of treatment. The biochemical analysis depicts the generation of oxidative stress with the increased level of lipid peroxidation and decreased activity of antioxidant enzymes, i.e., superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Whereas, Curcumin administration improved the level of malondialdehyde and oxidative stress in heart (auricles and ventricles) tissue by its antioxidant activity. Also, the cotreatment of CdCl₂ and Curcumin ameliorated the activity of antioxidant system. From the above results, it can be concluded that Curcumin showed the protective action against CdCl₂ -induced oxidative damage in the heart of mice.