Curcumin Mediated Attenuation of Carbofuran Induced Oxidative Stress in Rat Brain

Abstract

The indiscriminate use of carbofuran to improve crop productivity causes adverse effects in non-targets including mammals. This study aims to evaluate carbofuran induced oxidative stress in the brain stem of rat and its attenuation by curcumin, a natural antioxidant. Out of 6 groups of rats, two received two different doses of carbofuran: 15 and 30 % of LD50, respectively, for 30 days. Other two groups receiving same doses of carbofuran were pretreated with curcumin (100 mg/kg body weight). The levels of antioxidants MDA, GSH, SOD, catalase and GST were determined in the rat brain stem. The remaining groups served as placebo and curcumin treated, respectively. The data suggested that carbofuran at different doses caused significant alterations in the levels of MDA and GSH in dose dependent manner. The MDA and GSH contents were elevated. The activities of SOD, catalase and GST were significantly inhibited at both doses of carbofuran. The ratio of P/A was also found to be sharply increased. The prior treatment of curcumin exhibited significant protection from carbofuran induced toxicity. The results suggested that carbofuran at sub-lethal doses was able to induce oxidative stress in the brain stem of rat which should be attenuated by curcumin.