Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

« Back to Farmacia Journal 3/2018

POTENTIAL PROTECTIVE ROLE OF SELENIUM IN EXPERIMENTAL SUBACUTE INTOXICATION WITH ETHEPHON IN RATS

MIHAI TUDOR 1, BOGDAN GABRIEL ȘLENCU 1, RODICA CUCIUREANU 1, MAGDALENA CUCIUREANU 2*, NINA FILIP 2, CRISTIANA FILIP 2, CARMEN SOLCAN 3

1.Faculty of Pharmacy, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iași, 16 Universităţii Street, 700115, Iași, Romania
2.Faculty of Medicine, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iași, 16 Universităţii Street, 700115, Iași, Romania
3.Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Iași, 3 Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, 700490, Iaşi, Romania

Download Full Article PDF

Ethephon (2-chloroethylphosphonic acid) is a widely used plant growth regulator. This study aims to evaluate the potential protective effect of sodium selenite (Se) in ethephon-induced subacute intoxication. We worked on 4 groups of Wistar rats which received as follows: control group - saline; group Se - selenium 1 mg/kg/day; group Eth - ethephon 200 mg/kg/day; Se+Eth - selenium 1 mg/kg/day and ethephon 200 mg/kg/day. The activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), alkaline phosphatase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant status (TAS), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartat amino-transferase (AST), creatinine and urea have been determined in plasma for all groups of rats. Se administration (in group Se+Eth) reversed the elevation of ALT (44.68 ± 8.73 U/L versus 55.77 ± 4.87 U/L, p = 0.0406), urea (218.33 ± 41.67 mg/dL versus 270 ± 36.33 mg/dL, p = 0.0369) and antagonised the decrease of TAS activity (3.30 ± 0.17 mmol/L versus 2.69 ± 0.45 mmol/L, p = 0.0088) versus group Eth. Selenium (group Se+Eth) alleviated the histopathological aspect compared to group Eth. In conclusion, Selenium showed a partial protective effect in ethephon-induced subacute intoxication in rats.