Abstract
Cigarette smoking has been associated with high risk of neurological diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, etc., The present study was designed to evaluate the restorative effects of Sesbania grandiflora (S. grandiflora) on oxidative damage induced by cigarette smoke exposure in the brain of rats. Adult male Wistar-Kyoto rats were exposed to cigarette smoke for a period of 90 days and consecutively treated with S. grandiflora aqueous suspension (SGAS, 1000 mg/kg body weight per day by oral gavage) for a period of 3 weeks. The levels of protein carbonyl, nitric oxide, and activities of cytochrome P450, NADPH oxidase and xanthine oxidase were significantly increased, whereas the levels of total thiol, protein thiol, non-protein thiol, nucleic acids, tissue protein and the activities of Na+/K+-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase and Mg2+-ATPase were significantly diminished in the brain of rats exposed to cigarette smoke as compared with control rats. Also cigarette smoke exposure resulted in a significant alteration in brain total lipid, total cholesterol, triglycerides and phospholipids content. Treatment of SGAS is regressed these alterations induced by cigarette smoke. The results of our study suggest that S. grandiflora restores the brain from cigarette smoke induced oxidative damage. S. grandiflora could have rendered protection to the brain by stabilizing their cell membranes and prevented the protein oxidation, probably through its free radical scavenging and anti-peroxidative effect.