European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

STUDIES ON AMELIORATIVE EFFECT OF AEGLE MARMELOS ON CADMIUM INDUCED SPLENIC TOXICITY IN MURINE MODEL

Era Seth, Vijay Lakshmi Sharma and Mani Chopra*

ABSTRACT

The present study was targeted to evaluate the antioxidant potential of Aegle marmelos against cadmium induced toxicity in mice spleen. Cadmium was administered intraperitonealy (5mg/kg b.wt.) for five days which led to significant elevation in the levels of lipid peroxidation and a significant decrease in the levels of antioxidant enzymes. Histopathological alterations included disorganisation of the red and white pulps with loss of proper margination leading to splenomegaly and an increase in splenic index. Pre and post-treatments of Aegle (500mg/kg b.wt.) were able to effectively restore the elevated LPO and decreased levels of antioxidants. Both the treatments effectively attenuated the biochemical and histopathological changes induced by cadmium. Histomicrographs of Aegle treated mice spleen revealed well organised red pulp and the white pulp areas traversed by trabeculae. Pre-treatments of Aegle were found to be much more effective than the post treatments. These results suggest that oral administration of Aegle marmelos extract provides significant protection against cadmium induced splenic toxicity in BALB/c mice and could be used as a potential antioxidant against metal toxicity.

Keywords: Cadmium, Aegle, Spleen, Antioxidants, Reactive Oxygen Species.