Abstract
Objectives: Aluminum phosphide (ALP) is one of the most common insecticides used in agriculture, which induces oxidative stress in almost all major body systems and organs. The present study was conducted to compare the efficacy of nano-curcumin and curcumin on serum oxidative stress level in subacute toxicity with ALP.
Materials & Methods: This experimental study was conducted on 36 male Wistar rats (220-250 g). Animals were randomly divided into six groups: Control and ALP (2 mg/kg)-exposed groups treated with or without Curcumin 100 mg/kg or nano-curcumin 100 mg/kg for 7 days. Serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC), lipid peroxidation (LPO) and total thiol groups (TTG), and catalase activity (CAT) were measured.
Results: ALP administration led to a significant increase in LPO, and decreased the CAT activity, TAC and TTG, compared to the control group (p <0.05). A significant decrease in LPO was reported in the curcumin and nanocurcumin treated groups compared to the ALP-exposed groups (p<0.05). Also, in the nano-curcumin-treated groups, compared to a poisoned group, TAC, and TTG increased significantly. It should be noted that there were no significant changes in CAT activity improvement.