Oxidative Stress Markers and Histological Analysis in Diverse Organs from Rats Treated with a Hepatotoxic Dose of Cr(VI): Effect of Curcumin.

Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] compounds are extremely toxic and carcinogenic. Despite the vast quantity of reports about Cr(VI) toxicity, the information regarding its effects when it is intraperitoneally (i.p.) administered is still limited. In contrast, it has been shown that curcumin prevents hepatotoxicity induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of 15 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) of potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7). This study aims to evaluate oxidative stress markers, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and the potential histological injury in brain, heart, lung, kidney, spleen, pancreas, stomach, and intestine from rats treated with a hepatotoxic dose of K2Cr2O7 (15 mg/kg b.w.), and the effect of curcumin pretreatment. Rats were divided into four groups: control, curcumin, K2Cr2O7, and curcumin+K2Cr2O7. At the end of the treatment, plasma and ascites fluid were collected and target organs were dissected out for biochemical and histological analysis. K2Cr2O7 induced hepatotoxicity but failed to induce in all the other studied organs either oxidative or histological injury, since levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and related GSH enzymes were unchanged. As expected, curcumin was safe. Lack of K2Cr2O7-induced toxicity in those target organs could be due to the following: (1) route of administration, (2) absorption through the portal circulation, (3) lower dose than needed, (4) short time of exposure, or (5) repeated doses are required to produce damage. Thus, the intraperitoneal injection of 15 mg/kg of K2Cr2O7, that is able to induce hepatotoxicity, was unable to induce histological and oxidative damage in other target organs.