Effects of Ethanolic CowpeaExtract on MDA,SOD, TNF- αLevelsand Neuron Cell Vacuolationin WistarRat Brain After Exposed with Gasoline Fume

This study evaluates the effect of ethanolic cowpea extract (CE)on inhibitingthe decrease of SOD and the increase of MDA, TNF-α level and neuron cell vacuolationinrat brainafter exposed with the gasoline fume. This study were divided into 8 groups: 1)Negative control with no fume exposure and CE(-), 2)No fume exposure with CE(+), 3)Fume exposure for 2 minutes with CE(-), 4)Fume exposure for 2 minutes with CE(+), 5)Fume exposure for 3 minutes with CE(-), 6)Fume exposure for 3 minutes with CE(+), 7)Fume exposure for 4 minutes with CE(-), 8) Fume exposure for 4 minutes and CE(+). All groups received oxygen for 4 minutes. There was a significant difference between groups which were treated with cowpea supplementation and groups without the treatment in terms of SOD activities (p 0,05) on vacuolation in all exposure groups. In conclusion, ethanolic extract of cowpeas inhibits the decrease of SOD and the increase MDA and TNF-α, but does not reduce cell vacuolation in rat brain tissues after exposed to gasoline fume. Key word: Vigna unguiculata, SOD, MDA, TNF-α, vacuolation, gasoline fume.