Mitigative Effect of Grape Skin Extract on Arsenic-induced Small Intestinal Toxicity in a Mouse Model

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the arsenic-induced small intestinal toxicity and the protective effect of grape skin extract (GSE) against arsenic toxicity. Methods: The small intestinal toxicity was induced by 10 mg/L arsenic via drinking water for 56 days, and was intervened with GSE (150 mg/kg bw and 300 mg/kg bw) by gavage every other day in mice. Small intestine tissue samples of mice were collected and observed by microscope. Glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and H2O2 contents, as well as total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) were determined by using commercial kits. qRT-PCR was used to detect expression levels of the tight junction genes and the inflammatory pathway IL-6/JAK2/STAT-3 genes. Results: The results showed that 56 days exposure to 10 mg/L arsenic via drinking water resulted in shortened and disordered intestinal villi, with large numbers of inflammatory cells infiltrating the mucosa propria and submucosa. GSH content and T-SOD activity decreased by 17.1% and 25.2%, while MDA and H2O2 contents increased by 68.8% and 54.3%, respectively (P0.05). Conclusion: The application of GSE provides significant protection against arsenic-induced small intestinal toxicity by attenuating the oxidative stress and inflammatory responses, and inhibiting the down-regulation of some functional genes.

Keywords

• arsenic intake
• small intestine toxicity
• grape skin extract
• oxidative stress
• inflammatory response