Abstract

The study was designed to assess the antioxidative potential of three dietary antioxidants, vitamin C, Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) leaf extract (10% carnosic acid) and Amla (Embilica officinalis) fruit extract (aqueous) on cadmium-induced oxidative stress and the related histopathology of the liver and kidney of Wistar rats. Cadmium was administered as cadmium chloride (15 mg/kg body weight/day) for 4 weeks with five groups co-treated with the antioxidants, vitamin C (100 mg/kg/day) Rosemary leaf extract (15 and 30 mg/kg/day) and amla fruit extract (100 and 200 mg/kg/day). The results showed that cadmium induced a significant increase in both kidney and liver malondialdeyhde (MDA) levels coupled with an inhibition of the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity. Co-treatment of cadmium and the antioxidants did alleviate the oxidative stress which was observed as a significant reduction in the MDA levels and an increase in the SOD activity both in the kidney and liver. CAT activity was only increased by vitamin C and Rosemary (15 mg/kg) co-treatment in the kidney. Furthermore, cadmium induced cellular disorganization of the kidney and liver was restored with the co-treatment of the antioxidants being more pronounced with the plant extracts. Rosemary leaf extract was efficacious at both the doses while the amla fruit extract had the most ameliorative effect at a higher dose (200 mg/kg).

Key words: Cadmium, Rosmarinus officinalis, Embilica officinalis, vitamin C, antioxidants, oxidative stress, histopathology.