Phytoremedial effect of Tinospora cordifolia against arsenic induced toxicity in Charles Foster rats

Arsenic poisoning is one of the most serious health hazards of recent times. It has been estimated that more than 200 million people of about 105 countries in the world are affected due to arsenic poisoning. Except mitigation, there is no such mode by which the population can be prevented from being exposed to arsenic. Tinospora cordifolia (T. cordifolia) is widely used in the folk medicine system for the treatment of various diseases. Hence, the aim of the present study was to investigate the antidote effects of ethanolic extract of T. cordifolia stem against arsenic induced hepato-renal toxicity in rat model. Twenty-four male Charles Foster rats (weighing 160-180 g) were randomly divided into two groups, where six rats were used as control group. Eighteen rats were orally treated with arsenic at the dose of 8 mg/kg body weight for 90 days daily and then further divided into three sub groups (n = 6 each). Sub group I-arsenic treated rats, were sacrificed after treatment; sub group II rats were used as arsenic control and the sub group III rats were administrated with T. cordifolia at the dose of 400 mg/kg body weight/day for 90 days. After the completion of dose duration, all the control and treatment group rats were sacrificed to evaluate the various parameters. Arsenic induced rats had significantly (p < 0.0001) altered biochemical serum levels of SGPT, SGOT, ALP, total bilirubin, urea, uric acid, creatinine and albumin; But, after the administration of T. cordifolia there was significant (p < 0.0001) restoration observed in these liver and kidney function parameters. The T. cordifolia administration also significantly (p < 0.0001) restored the serum MDA levels and arsenic concentration in blood, liver and kidney tissues, as well as significant (p < 0.0001) improvement in haematological variables. In histopathological study, the arsenic treated rats showed degenerative changes in the liver and kidney tissues such as lesions and vacuolizations in hepatocytes and nephrocytes respectively. However, after the administration with T. cordifolia rats, there was considerably significant restoration in liver and kidney tissues. The entire study suggests that arsenic caused severe damage to the liver and kidney at haematological, biochemical and histopathological levels in rats. However, T. cordifolia played the vital role to combat the arsenic induced toxicity in rats. Hence, T. cordifolia might be used as a nutritional supplement to combat the arsenic led toxicity among the exposed population.

Keywords: Arsenic; Hepatotoxicity; Phytoremediation; Renal toxicity; Tinospora cordifolia.