Chromium Exposure in Late Gestation Period Caused Increased Levels of Cr in Brain Tissue: Association with Alteration of Activity and Gene Expression of Antioxidant Enzymes of F1 and F2 Generation Mice

Chromium is a micronutrient which has found frequent use as supplements during pregnancy and could have a role in altering the antioxidant status in the brain. The present study was undertaken to estimate chromium levels in the brain, antioxidant enzyme activity with their gene expression, and learning and memory parameters on F1 and F2 generation mice when the F0 was exposed to chromium. The chromium levels in the brain were estimated using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The enzyme activity of glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT) was estimated and their gene expression was evaluated using RT-PCR. The spatial memory was tested using Morris water maze. The learning and recall memory was tested using the step down latency paradigm. The chromium levels were significantly raised in animals treated with Cr per se in F1 generation and quercetin cotreatment reduced the Cr levels in brain significantly. The enzyme activity of GST was significantly less in Cr-treated animals of both generations and this effect was significantly reversed on cotreatment with quercetin. The gene expression of GST matched the enzyme activity. However, catalase activity did not show significant decrease with Cr but cotreatment with quercetin resulted in significant decrease compared with control and this effect was not matched by its gene expression. We observed no significant change in learning and memory parameters in both generations following Cr exposure. Thus, this study demonstrates that chromium exposure in gestation causes changes in enzyme activity especially GST and this change was matched by change in gene expression in GST but not CAT. There was no effect on memory at the given dose.