Anti-CYP2E1 (aa 233-243) polyclonal antibody

Introduction: Acrylamide, an industrial toxic chemical, formed naturally in starchy foods, cooked at high temperature. Acrylamide is known to cause reproductive toxicity in male rats and extent of its effect with respect to sperm and histopathological parameters is not well studied. Aim: To evaluate the influence of acrylamide on male reproductive structural and functional alterations. Materials and Methods: We examined the toxic potential of acrylamide doses, including 0 (distilled water), 6.25, 25 mg/kg body weight/day, in 18 adult male Wistar rats administered by oral gavage for 21 days. Body weight was recorded daily, and the animals were sacrificed at the end of treatment. The relative testis and epididymis wet weights were measured. Sperm count, motility, and morphology were assessed from the epididymis sperm reserve. The testis and epididymis were examined for histological abnormalities. One-way ANOVA was used to test the significant difference in the quantitative responses, followed by Tukey HSD pairwise comparison test. Results: The acrylamide decreased the body weight (p<0.001) and epididymis weight (p<0.05) significantly. The epididymal sperm reserve in the high dose group were observed with significant changes in count, motility and morphology. Histologically, the high dose exposed epididymis, showed sloughing and apoptosis of germ cells inducing reduced sperm capacitance and vacuolar degeneration of basal epithelium. The high dose treated testis showed atrophy with reduced luminal diameter. Conclusion: We observed significant reproductive toxicity in male Wistar rats after the acrylamide ingestion, which is similar to the dose of exposure that can be taken in, by that population, who regularly consume food items having acrylamide in it. Hence, our findings strengthened the concern about male reproductive toxicity of acrylamide exposure and demanding the awareness on the same.

Entada africana is used in non-conventional medicine for the management of liver ailments. A fraction, designated EaF10 (methylene chloride/methanol 90:10, v/v) with promising hepatoprotective activity has been isolated. Since the mechanisms underlying EaF10 hepatoprotective action remain unknown, this study was undertaken to investigate the anti-hepatotoxic mechanism of the fraction against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity and its antioxidant properties. Antioxidant activities of EaF10 were assessed through four chemical antioxidant assays and its anti-hepatotoxic effect evaluated in vivo and in vitro by post-treatment (25 or 100 mg/Kg) or co-treatment (6.25-100 mu g/mL) in CCl4-intoxicated mice and normal human liver cells line L-02 hepatocytes respectively; and biochemical and molecular parameters assessed respectively by spectrophotometry, and by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. EaF10 exhibited strong antioxidant activities correlated with its polyphenol content. Serum levels of alanine/aspartate aminotransferase (AST/ALT) and nitrite oxide, liver contents of glutathione (GSH) protein carbonylation and malondialdehyde (MDA), liver activities of catalase (CAT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and cell viability showed the anti-hepatotoxic effect of EaF10, supported by histopathological observations. The fraction decreased the protein level of Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein-1 (Keap-1), induced nuclear translocation of Nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) coupled to an increase of the mRNA levels of CAT, SOD1 and GST in CCl4-intoxicated L-02 hepatocytes. These findings evidenced that the studied plant fraction possesses a strong antioxidant capacity and prevents CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity, likely through inhibition of CYP2E1 and activation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway.