EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT EFFECT OF CITRULLUS VULGARIS AGAINST CADMIUM-INDUCED NEUROTOXICITY IN MICE BRAIN

Cadmium is a potent neurotoxic heavy metal, which induces oxidative stress and membrane disturbances in brain. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathology of number of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzeimers disease. The present study was aimed to evaluate the antioxidant effect of hexane extract of Citrullus vulgaris seed (CVSO) in the brain of cadmium (cd) treated mice as an animal model of oxidative stress. The neuroprotective efficacy of CVSO against Cd was assessed by estimating the levels of lipid peroxidation, non-enzymatic antioxidant, enzymatic antioxidant status and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in mice. CVSO was administered along with Cd for four weeks. The results showed that mice intoxicated with cadmium (5 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks significantly (p<0.05) reduced the AChE levels in brain, elevated the levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), lipid hydroperoxides along with the significant (p<0.05) decrease in the levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants (GSH), enzymatic antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in the brain tissue. In conclusion, CVSO ameliorated cadmium induced brain damage by reducing oxidative stress and by enhancing AChE activity