Background: Lead is widely distributed in the environment and has been found to be associated with various health problems including neurodegenerative diseases.
Purpose: In view of the increasing health risk caused by lead, this study has been carried out to investigate the neuroprotective effect of omega-3 fatty acid (omega-3FA) in lead-induced neurotoxicity in rats.
Methods: Biochemical parameters including oxidative stress in brain regions, lead levels in blood and brain regions and histopathological examination of brain regions of rats were carried out in the present study.
Results: Rats exposed to lead (lead acetate 7.5 mg/kg body weight p.o. for 14 days) caused a significant increase in the levels of lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl content, ROS production and decreased the activities of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex, respectively, as compared to controls. Abnormal histopathological changes and increase in the levels of lead in blood and brain were also observed as compared to controls. Co-treatment of lead with omega-3FA (750 mg/kg body weight p.o. for 14 days) decreased the levels of lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl content, ROS production and increased the activities of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase and showed protection in the histopathological study as compared to rats treated with lead alone.
Conclusions: The result of the present study shows that lead-induced oxidative stress and histopathological alteration in the brain region were significantly protected with co-treatment of lead and omega-3FA. This could be due to its strong antioxidant potential and metal-binding property.
Keywords: Lead; Neuroprotection; Neurotoxicity; Omega-3 fatty acid; Rats.