Abdulla S M Aljohani, Suliman Al Dakhil, Amal S Soliman, Mohamed El-Alreshoodi, Ibrahim M El-Ashmawy
Cadmium (Cd), a toxic heavy metal, ranks among the top ten environmental threats to human health, adversely affecting vital organs such as the central nervous system, kidneys, liver, pancreas, lungs, and testes. The antioxidant potentials of Commiphora gileadensis (CG) sap in vitro were estimated by the total phenolic and flavonoid content, DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging activity) and ABTS (2,2'-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) free radical scavenging. The reducing activities were also assessed using copper (cupric reducing antioxidant capacity, CUPRAC) and ferric (ferric reducing antioxidant power, FRAP). The protective effects of the CG sap against Cd-induced liver and kidney damage in male rats were investigated in vivo. Forty-two healthy adult male albino rats were randomly divided into seven groups and treated for 60 days as follows: G1 (negative control), G2 (50 mg/l cadmium chloride in drinking water), G3 and G4 (100 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg CG sap, respectively), G5 (50 mg/l cadmium chloride + 100 mg/kg CG sap), G6 (50 mg/l cadmium chloride + 400 mg/kg CG sap), and G7 (1 % Tween 80, 1 ml/rat as a vehicle). The in vitro investigation revealed the potential antioxidant (DPPH, ABTS) and reducing (CUPRAC, FRAP) activities of the sap obtained from Commiphora gileadensis. Additionally, the in vivo experiment showed that cadmium exposure resulted in significantly increased malondialdehyde, reduced catalase and antioxidant capacities, and impaired liver and kidney functions. However, the co-administration of CG sap markedly ameliorated these adverse effects in a dose-dependent manner, improving the antioxidant capacity and restoring the hepato-renal function by improving the biochemical parameters and histological structure. It could be concluded that CG sap has the potential as a natural therapeutic agent to mitigate cadmium toxicity and its associated environmental hazards.