Influence of flavonoid extracts from celery on oxidative stress induced by dichlorvos in rats

The present work was to investigate the effects of flavonoid extracts from celery on oxidative stress induced by dichlorvos (DIC) in male Wistar rats maintained on a normal diet. The rats were given DIC through intra-gastric administration by the dose of 7.2 mg/kg.body weight (bw)/day and additionally added 5% flavonoid extracts to the diet for 4 weeks continuously. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in livers of rats were measured at the end of the experiment. Under the influence of DIC, there were significant decrease in the activities of SOD, CAT and GST and significant increase in GPx activity and MDA content. The results also showed that the activities of SOD, GST and CAT in the DIC-treated group declined significantly when compared with the flavonoid extracts group and the DIC + flavonoid extracts group, respectively. With regard to GPx activity and MDA content, significant increase were showed in the DIC-treated group in comparison to those in the flavonoid extracts group and the DIC + flavonoid extracts group, respectively. The observations presented lead us to conclude the harmful effects of DIC during the exposure and the protective role of flavonoids in minimizing these effects.