The Beneficial Impact of the Black Chokeberry Extract against the Oxidative Stress in the Sublingual Salivary Gland of Rats Intoxicated with Cadmium.

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most harmful xenobiotics to which humans are exposed, mainly by the oral route, throughout life. Preventive strategies are searched as low intoxication with this element, among others due to its prooxidative properties, can be deleterious to health and the exposure to it is continuously increasing. Recently, interest has been paid to plant raw materials with a high antioxidative potential to oppose the prooxidative properties of cadmium, such as black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa L. fruit), which is rich in polyphenolic compounds. The study was aimed at assessing whether the chokeberry extract may counteract the prooxidative impact of low-level and moderate repeated intoxication with cadmium on the sublingual salivary gland. The investigation was performed on 96 Wistar rats (females), which were treated with a 0.1% aqueous extract from chokeberries or/and a diet containing 1 or 5 mg Cd/kg for 3 and 10 months, and control animals. The intoxication with cadmium, in a dose- and time-dependent manner, attenuated the enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidative potential and increased the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and total oxidative status of the sublingual salivary gland resulting in an occurrence of oxidative stress, enhancement of lipid peroxidation, and oxidative injuries of proteins in this salivary gland. The treatment with the black chokeberry extract during the intoxication with cadmium prevented this xenobiotic-caused oxidative/reductive imbalance and oxidative modifications of proteins and lipids in the salivary gland. The above results allow the conclusion that the consumption of black chokeberry products during intoxication with cadmium can prevent oxidative stress and its consequences in the sublingual salivary gland and thus counteract the unfavourable impact of this xenobiotic on the oral cavity.

Beneficial Impact of an Extract from the Berries of Aronia melanocarpa L. on the Oxidative-Reductive Status of the Submandibular Gland of Rats Exposed to Cadmium.

Oxidative stress underlies the pathomechanisms of toxic action of cadmium (Cd), including its damaging impact on the oral cavity. This study investigated whether the administration of an extract from Aronia melanocarpa L. berries (AME), characterized by their strong antioxidative potential, may have a beneficial impact on the oxidative-reductive status of the submandibular gland in an experimental model of low-level and moderate human environmental exposure to cadmium. The main markers of the antioxidative status (glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, reduced glutathione, total antioxidative status (TAS)), total oxidative status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI = TOS/TAS), and lipid peroxides, as well as cadmium concentration, were evaluated in the submandibular gland tissue of female Wistar rats who received a 0.1% aqueous AME and/or a diet containing 0, 1, and 5 mg Cd/kg for 3 and 10 months. The treatment with cadmium decreased the activities of antioxidative enzymes (29%-74%), reduced glutathione concentration (45%-52%), and TAS and increased TOS, resulting in the development of oxidative stress and enhanced concentration of lipid peroxides in the submandibular gland. The administration of AME at both levels of exposure to cadmium offered significant protection against these actions of this xenobiotic. After the 10 month exposure to the 1 and 5 mg Cd/kg diet, TAS was decreased by 77% and 83%, respectively, TOS, OSI, and lipid peroxides concentration were increased by 50% and 52%, respectively, 11.8-fold and 14.4-fold, respectively, and 2.3-fold and 4.3-fold, respectively, whereas, in the case of the extract co-administration, the values of these parameters did not differ compared to the control group. The results indicate that the consumption of aronia products under exposure to cadmium may have a beneficial impact on the oxidative-reductive status of the submandibular gland and prevent oxidative stress development and enhanced lipid peroxidation in this salivary gland.