Abstract
Organic and conventional yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is widely used in South America to prepare nonalcoholic drinks rich in polyphenols. These compounds are able to prevent the generation of reactive species, thus minimizing the incidence of several diseases. In this perspective, we hypothesized that yerba mate may have protective effects against pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced oxidative damage in liver and serum of rats. Animals (n = 42) received distilled water (control) or yerba mate (organic or conventional) for fifteen days. Then, half of the rats of each group received 60 mg/kg PTZ intraperitoneally or saline solution. After 30 min the animals were euthanized and the liver and blood were collected. The results showed that organic and conventional yerba mate avoided PTZ-induced oxidative damage and nitric oxide production in the liver and serum of the rats. Moreover, both kinds of yerba mate prevented the decrease in enzymatic (superoxide dismutase and catalase) and non-enzymatic (sulfhydryl protein content) defenses in the liver and serum. In addition, histopathologic analysis of the liver showed that yerba mate reduced PTZ-induced cell damage. These findings indicate that yerba mate provides hepatoprotection and improves antioxidant status in the serum, which may contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies using nutraceuticals drinks.
Highlights
The effects of organic and conventional yerba mate were evaluated on liver and serum of Wistar rats subjected to PTZ-induced oxidative damage
PTZ treatment induced an increase in lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage to proteins, and increased in nitric oxide production both in liver (Table 1) and serum (Table 2) of the rats
Pre-treatments with organic and conventional yerba mate prevented against oxidative damage to lipids and proteins, and avoided the increase in nitric oxide production induced by PTZ in the liver (Table 1), and serum of rats (Table 2)
Summary
A previous study from our group [18] demonstrated that both organic and conventional yerba mate were able to reduce oxidative damage in cerebellum, cerebral cortex, and hippocampus of rats treated with pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)—a convulsant drug commonly used in experimental model of epilepsy. We aimed to evaluate the effects of organic and conventional yerba mate to prevent oxidative damage on liver and serum of rats treated with PTZ. For this purpose, oxidative damage to lipids and proteins, nitric oxide production, and the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defenses (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and sulfhydryl protein content) were evaluated
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