Abstract
Technological developments have led to exposure to various substances that are harmful to the environment and public health, including heavy metals. In the environment, these grades of metals are usually diverse mixtures shown to cause physiological, biochemical and neurological dysfunctions in humans and laboratory animals. Cadmium, Lead, and mercury have been envisaged to exhibit their hepatotoxic effects by oxidative induction damage and synthesis of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The current work evaluated the protective activity of aqueous leaf extract of Costus afer (ALECA)) on liver damage arsing from exposure to trace metal mixture (TMM): cadmium chloride (CdCl2), lead chloride (PbCl2), and mercury chloride (HgCl2). Five groups of weight matched Sprague Dawley rats were treated for 90 days. Metal mixture and deionized water were used to treat the 2 groups of rats whereas the other 3 groups were treated with various doses of the ALECA through oral gavage alongside the metal mixture. Hepatic function parameters, oxidative biomarkers, inflammatory cytokines, Morphological changes and trace metals (concentrations were monitored in the liver). TMM treatment resulted in significant increase in ALT, AST, ALP, bilirubin, IL-6, MDA, but decreased albumin, total protein, IL-10, SOD, CAT and GSH levels. TMM also caused some morphological changes and increased the heavy metal (Pb, Cd and Hg) concentrations in the liver. The leaf extract gave a reasonable protective effect on the hepatotoxicity caused by trace metal mixture - through the mechanisms of metal chelation, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant although this depends on the dosage to the rats. ALECA may be beneficial in the management of liver toxicity.
Lead, Arsenic, and Manganese Metal Mixture Exposures: Focus on Biomarkers of Effect