In vitro Arsanilic Acid Induction of Apoptosis in Rat Hepatocytes

Abstract

This paper aimed to study the toxicity of arsanilic acid on rat primary hepatocytes in vitro by a modification of the perfusion method. The conditions included concentrations of 0, 1.085, 10.85, 108.5, 1,085 and 10,850 mg/kg arsanilic acid in RPMI 1,640 medium at rat hepatocytes plates respectively, each group had five repeats at 37°C for 48 h. The rat primary hepatocytes survival ratio, DNA Ladder, activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in hepatocytes, activity of SOD in the medium and the expression of gene bax in hepatocytes were measured at 12 h, 24 h and 48 h respectively. The results showed that arsanilic acid decreased the activities of GSH-px and SOD, and increased the activity of CAT in all dosages, and affected as positive DNA ladder. Although the SOD activities of both hepatocytes and medium in 1.085 mg/L arsanilic acid were significantly lower than the base line at 12 h, CAT activity in 10.85 mg/L arsanilic acid was significantly higher than the base line at 48 h, and all of the DNA ladders were positive, which means 1.085 mg/L arsanilic acid induced apoptosis at 24 h. The gene expression of bax was significantly upregulated in 1.085 mg/L arsanilic acid or higher for 24 h.The parameters in 1,085 mg/L and 10,850 mg/L arsanilic acid had more severe changes than the others at any time indicating that these levels of arsanilic acid were toxic hazards for hepatocyte survival. It was concluded that arsanilic acid induced a dosage- and time-dependent gene expression of bax, 1.085 mg/L arsanilic acid could be involved in rat liver cell apoptosis at 24 h. Arsanilic acid as additives in livestock feed could present potential toxic implications for farm animals.