Ameliorative role of melatonin against cypermethrin induced hepatotoxicity and impaired antioxidant defense system in Wistar rats

Recently, melatonin has attracted attention because of their strong free radical scavenging and antioxidant properties. The present study was designed to investigate the role of melatonin against cypermethrin induced hepatotoxicity in rats using qualitative, quantitative and biochemical approaches. Adult female Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups; each group consists of six animals. Control group received vehicle, corn oil; Cypermethrin (CM) (250mg/kg bw); Melatonin (MEL) (10 mg/kg bw); CM+MEL treated group. Animals were treated orally, daily for a period of 4 weeks. Animals were sacrificed by decapitation and liver was used for various biochemical and histopathological examinations. The result of this study shows that in vivo administration of cypermethrin caused a significant induction of oxidative damage in liver tissue as evidenced by depletion of proteins, glutathione (GSH) and increased lipid peroxidation in hepatic tissue. Cypermethrin administration significantly enhanced the activities of enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione-S- transferase (GST). Cypermethrin intoxication exhibited elevation in the activities of liver marker enzymes such as serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Furthermore, the co-administration of melatonin mitigates the hepatotoxicity of cypermethrin by normalizing the biochemical and enzymatic parameters. The biochemical observations were supported by histopathological examination of liver. The findings of this investigation suggest that the melatonin may play a protective role against cypermethrin induced hepatotoxicity and oxidative damage in female albino rats.