Protective Effects of Echium amoenum on Oxidative Stress and Gene Expression Induced by Permethrin in Wistar Rats

Background: Echium amoenum (E. amoenum), as one of the most popular plants in Iran, is traditionally used to treat different types of disorders. Objectives: This experimental study aimed to evaluate the modulatory effects of E. amoenum on permethrin (PMN)-induced oxidative stress in rats and to determine the cytoprotective effect of E. amoenum on PMN in SK-Hep-1 cells. Methods: Twenty-four male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four equal groups, including the control (normal saline), orally treated PMN (125 mg/kg of PMN), E. amoenum (100 mg/kg), and E. amoenum + PMN groups for 28 days. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lipid peroxidation (LPO), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), as well as the expression of catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), were measured in the liver of all rats. Also, the cytoprotective effect of E. amoenum against PMN was evaluated in the treated SK-Hep-1 cells. Results: The results indicated that LPO increased significantly in the PMN-treated group, as evidenced by the high concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver. Alterations of the antioxidant system were also confirmed by the significant decline in CAT and GPx activities (2.9 +/- 0.14 and 0.5 +/- 0.03, respectively; P < 0.05) and the significant downregulation of CAT (0.4 +/- 0.02 folds) and GPx (0.3 +/- 0.01 folds) mRNA expression in the liver (P < 0.05). PMN also stimulated significant changes in hepatic biomarkers and induced pathological changes in the liver. On the other hand, administration of E. amoenum significantly reduced abnormalities in biochemical markers, LPO, antioxidant enzymes, gene expression, and pathological complications induced by PMN (P < 0.05). E. amoenum also exhibited cytoprotective effects against cytotoxicity induced by PMN in SK-Hep-1 cells. Conclusions: The present results demonstrated that E. amoenum has significant antioxidant, gene-regulating, and cytoprotective effects.