Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate if grape juice concentrate is able to protect
rat liver against cadmium toxicity. For this purpose, histopathological analysis,
cytochrome C expression and immunoexpresssion of metalloproteinases (MMP) 2 and 9
were investigated. A total of 15 Wistar rats weighing 250 g on the average, and 8
weeks age were distributed into 3 groups (n=5), as follows: Control group (non-treated
group, CTRL); Cadmium group (Cd) and grape juice concentrate group (Cd+GJ). Histopathological
analysis revealed that liver from animals treated with grape juice concentrate improved
tissue degeneration induced by cadmium intoxication. Animals intoxicated with cadmium
and treated with grape juice concentrate showed higher cytochrome C gene expression
in liver cells. No significant statistically differences (p>0.05) were found to MMP
2 and 9 immunoexpression between groups. Taken together, our results demonstrate that
grape juice concentrate is able to prevent tissue degeneration in rat liver as a result
of increasing apoptosis.
Key words
grape juice concentrate - cadmium - rat - cytochrome C - metalloproteinases