The Protective Effect of N-acetylcysteine against Deltamethrin-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice

Ali Ameri; Alireza Rahmati; Shadi Soroushfar; Mehdi Lalehzari; Tahereh Dehghani; Hamed Haghi-Aminjan; Jebreil Shamseddin; Mahmoud Omidi

doi:10.18502/ajmb.v16i2.14859

The Protective Effect of N-acetylcysteine against Deltamethrin-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice

Avicenna J Med Biotechnol. 2024 Apr-Jun;16(2):88-94. doi: 10.18502/ajmb.v16i2.14859.

Authors

Ali Ameri¹, Alireza Rahmati¹, Shadi Soroushfar¹, Mehdi Lalehzari², Tahereh Dehghani³, Hamed Haghi-Aminjan⁴, Jebreil Shamseddin³, Mahmoud Omidi^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Student Research Committee, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
² Trauma Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
³ Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Hormozgan Health Institute, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
⁴ Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
⁵ Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
⁶ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Exposure to pesticides is of concern to public health officials worldwide. Deltamethrin is a synthetic pyrethroid pesticide which is widely used in agriculture and veterinary medicine. Deltamethrin poisoning is always one of the concerns in medical centers due to the deltamethrin induced hepatotoxicity. This study evaluated the hepato-protective effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) against deltamethrin induced hepatotoxicity in mice.

Methods: A total of 40 BALB/c male mice were randomly divided into four groups; the first group was used as a control (0.5 ml normal saline); Groups 2-4 were treated with NAC [160 mg/kg Body Weight (BW)], deltamethrin (50 mg/kg BW), and NAC plus deltamethrin. At 1 and 24 hr after treatment, the animals were sacrificed and blood and liver samples were obtained for analysis and the liver/body ration, hepatic enzymes as Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alanine Transaminase (ALT), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), Glutathione (GSH) content and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) level were measured. For comparison between more than two experimental groups, one-way ANOVA following Tukey test was used by SPSS software.

Results: The deltamethrin significantly increased AST, ALT, ALP, and the level of ROS level at the end of 1 and 24 hr after treatment; while the LDH level and GSH content were decreased. Mice in the deltamethrin treated group had a higher liver/body weight ratio than in other treated groups after 24 hr. On the other hand, NAC in combination with deltamethrin significantly reduced the activities of AST, ALT, ALP, and increased GSH levels.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that NAC has a hepatoprotective role against deltamethrin-induced toxicity.

Keywords: Deltamethrin; Hepatoprotection; Liver; N-acetylcysteine; Pesticides.