Molecular Mechanism of Formalin-Induced Toxicity and Its Management

Abstract

The use of formalin (40% formaldehyde) for the preservation of food in an illegal way becoming a serious health issue in developing countries including Bangladesh. We investigated the Formalin (FA)-induced organ toxicity in Swiss albino mice. FA induction caused the significant elevation of the liver enzyme, SGOT and SGPT; the MDA levels in the liver and brain. Among the fractions of methanol extract of L. globosus, ethyl acetate (EA) fraction significantly reduced the elevated biochemical parameters (FA vs FA + EA fraction, μKa/L); SGOT (78.4 ± 0.3 vs 14.3 ± 0.9), SGPT (100.5 ± 5.2 vs 14.6 ± 0.7), MDA in liver (10.9 ± 0.2 vs 5.6 ± 0.1) and MDA in brain (16.9 ± 0.2 vs 6.3 ± 0.2). Morphological analyses also supported the beneficial effect of EA fraction in FA-induced liver toxicity. FA induction caused the phosphorylation of JNK, member of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) in both the liver and brain, which were completely abolished by the treatment of EA fraction of L. globosus. Chemical analyses showed that the EA fraction exhibited antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties. The protective effect of the EA fraction on the FA-induced toxicity by the modulation of oxidative inflammatory pathway by its antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity.