Curcumin mitigates dichlorvos-initiated multi-organ dysfunction in rats by attenuating systemic oxidative stress and brain inflammatory mRNA transcripts

Abstract

Organophosphorus pesticides like dichlorvos (DDVP) are widely used for pest control, however their safety is a growing concern due to potential multi-factorial health risks. While curcumin (CUR) is known for its antioxidant capacity, its influence on DDVP-incited multi-organ dysfunction and brain inflammation remain under-researched. This work assessed the ameliorative competence of CUR in a DDVP-mediated systemic intoxication rat model. Rats (42) were randomly appropriated into seven groups (6 rats/group): Control, DDVP only (20 mg.kg⁻¹day⁻¹), DDVP subjected with either CUR (50 and 100 mg.kg⁻¹day⁻¹) or the reference drug atropine (0.2 mg.kg⁻¹day⁻¹), and CUR only (50 and 10 mg.kg⁻¹day⁻¹) were investigated. Rats were afflicted with DDVP orally for seven days, followed by fourteen days of CUR intervention. We humanely killed the rats and harvested their blood and viscera (liver, kidney, heart, lung, and brain) for bioassays twenty-four hours following the final treatment. CUR significantly (p < 0.05) abrogated DDVP-engendered elevations in H₂O₂, NO, and malondialdehyde contents, as well as GST activity; and reversed DDVP-elicited declines in GSH amounts, activities of SOD, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase in across all tissues. In the brain, CUR markedly (p < 0.05) rescinded DDVP-occasioned upregulation of gene expression biomarkers for fibrosis (TGF-β-1), apoptosis regulator (nuclear factor-kB-p65), and pro-apoptosis (p53 and Bax); and markedly abated DDVP-provoked repression of anti-inflammatory cytokine (interleukin-10)]. Wholly CUR therapy mitigated DDVP-engendered multi-organ impairments in rats via rescinding oxidative stress and brain inflammation.