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Prevention
of cadmium-induced alteration in rat testes and prostate
lipid patterns by α-tocopherol
M. A. Adaikpoh1* and F. O.
Obi1
Department
of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of
Benin, P. M. B 1154, Benin City, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
tinadaikpoh@yahoo.com.
Accepted 9 September, 2009 |
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Cadmium
induced testicular damage has been investigated in
α-tocopherol (Vitamin E) pretreated and non-pretreated male
rats exposed to a single sub-lethal dose of cadmium in form
of CdCl2. Graded doses of vitamin E (75, 150, and 750 mg
kg-1 body wt.) were administered daily to rats in separate
groups by gavage for 4 weeks while 3 mg Cd kg-1 body wt was
administered subcutaneously, 24 hr to the termination of the
study. Relative to the Cd - free control rats, cadmium
significantly (P < 0.05) increased total cholesterol (CHL)
levels in the testes and prostate but did not change its
level in plasma. It also decreased TPL/CHL and
phosphatidylcholine (PC) / phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)
ratios in testes and increased sphingomyeline (SPM) /
phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) ratios in the testes. However,
cadmium administration increased the PC/PE and SPM/PE ratio
but reduced the TPL/CHL ratio in the prostate. It appears
that increased cholesterol levels within the testes and
prostate and attendant membrane rigidity may be one
mechanism by which cadmium causes damage to the testes and
prostate. It also appears that low - medium doses of
α-tocopherol can effectively protect the testes and prostate
against Cd - induced damage.
Key words: Cadmium, α-tocopherol, cholesterol,
phospholipids, rat. |
