Investigation of Protective Effects of Foeniculum vulgare Against Heavy Metal Induced Oxidative Stress in Mice

Abstract

Oxidative stress is considered as the central mediator in causing many neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs). Exposure to heavy metals like lead may induce oxidative stress which may contribute towards the onset or progression of NDDs. To cope with this; natural antioxidants can be a potential remedy with minimum side effects. In the present study the potential antioxidant activity of ethanolic extract of Foeniculum Vulgare seed (F. vulgare; FS) was investigated. In vitro antioxidant activity of different concentrations of F. vulgare were assessed through DPPH assay and maximum activity was found of ethanol extract, followed by ethanol extract. HNMR analysis showed the presence of phenolic acids, flavonoids, coumarins, furanocoumarins, and tannins in both and ethanol extracts of F. vulgare. The extracts were than administered to Balb/C mice, divided into different groups including control, . lead treated group, ethanolic F. vulgare extract ( mg/kg/day) treated group, ethanolic F. vulgare extract ( mg/kg/day) treated group, . % lead and ethanolic F. vulgare extract ( mg/kg/day) treated group, . % lead and ethanolic F. vulgare extract ( mg/kg/day) treated group, . lead and ethanolic F. vulgare extract treated ( mg/kg/day) group, . % lead and ethanolic F. vulgare extract ( mg/kg/day) treated group, and a self-recovery group. To examine the antioxidant and neuroprotective effect of F. vulgare, five different genes were analyzed including SOD , Prdx , APP common, APP , and APP . Expression of SOD and Prdx was significantly reduced in the . lead induced oxidative stress group, whereas increase in expression was observed in groups later treated with and ethanolic extracts of F. vulgare with a dose of mg/kg/day. While no significant improvement was observed in . % lead group treated with F. vulgare extract groups with a dose of mg/kg/day, and selfrecovery group. APP common did not show any significant difference among all the groups. APP expression was significantly increased while APP was significantly decreased in . lead treated group which was interestingly restored by administration of and ethanolic extracts of F. vulgare ( mg/kg/day). The expression of all these genes were also examined in medicinal herb treatment group ( and Abstract xvi ethanol extract of F. vulgare) and no significant difference was observed as compared to control. Histology results also supported the neuroprotective effect of F. vulgare showing significant improvement in number of cortical and hippocampal neurons. In conclusion, and ethanol extract of fennel seed showed the beneficial effect (especially at dose of mg/kg/day) on neuronal structure and antioxidant mechanism in lead treated mice and can be therefore, used as an effective herbal drug for minimizing the deleterious effects of oxidative stress induced by lead toxicity.