Lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress in rat erythrocytes induced by chlorpyrifos and the protective effect of zinc

Male and female rats were orally administered chlorpyrifos at a dose of 6.75 mgkg(-1) body weight for 28 consecutive days. An additional chlorpyrifos group received zinc (227 mgl(-1)) in drinking water throughout the experimental duration. Two groups more served as controls; one received water only and the other received zinc in drinking water. Administration of chlorpyrifos resulted in a significant increase in lipid peroxidation (LPO) level and significant decrease in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-s-transferase (GST), catalase (CAT) and acetylcholinesterase (ACH) in erythrocytes of male and female rats. In contrast, zinc-chlorpyrifos treatment showed insignificant differences (p <= 0.05-0.01), compared to control results, regarding LPO, SOD, GST and CAT. In case of ACH, supplementation of zinc showed little alteration in the activity of this enzyme in the rats treated with chlorpyrifos. It can deduce that chlorpyrifos induced oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation in erythrocytes of male and female rats. The overall results reveal the pronounced ameliorating effect of zinc in chlorpyrifos-intoxicated rats and variation in the response of male and female animals regarding alteration in the level of some biochemical parameters and LPO. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.