Protective effect of resveratrol and vitamin E against ethanol-induced oxidative damage in mice: Biochemical and immunological basis

Abstract

The metabolism of ethanol gives rise to the generation of excess amounts of reactive oxygen species and is also associated with immune dysfunction. We examined the efficacy of resveratrol and vitamin E on the immunomodulatory activity and vascular function in mice with liver abnormalities induced by chronic ethanol consumption by measuring the protein, liver-specific transaminase enzymes, antioxidant enzymes and non-enzymes such as reduced glutathione (GSH) content, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) level, nitrite level, and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-<img src='/image/spc_char/alpha.gif' border=0>, gamma interferon (IFN-<img src='/image/spc_char/gamma2.gif' border=0>), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and transforming growth factor (TGF)-<img src='/image/spc_char/beta.gif' border=0>1 in mice blood. Ethanol (1.6 g/kg body wt/day) exposure for 12 wks significantly increased TBARS and nitrite levels and GST activity, and significantly decreased GSH content and the activities of SOD, CAT, GR and GPx in whole blood hemolyzate of 8-10 wks-old male BALB/c mice (weighing 20-30 g). Ethanol exposure also elevated the activities of transaminase enzymes (AST and ALT), IL-10, TNF-<img src='/image/spc_char/alpha.gif' border=0>, IFN-<img src='/image/spc_char/gamma2.gif' border=0>, VEGF-A and TGF-<img src='/image/spc_char/beta.gif' border=0>1, while decreasing the albumin concentration and IL-4 activity in the serum. Both resveratrol (5 mg kg^-1 day^-1) and vitamin E (80 mg kg^-1 day^-1) treatment significantly reduced AST, ALT, GST, IL-10, TNF-<img src='/image/spc_char/alpha.gif' border=0>, IFN-<img src='/image/spc_char/gamma2.gif' border=0>, VEGF-A and TGF-<img src='/image/spc_char/beta.gif' border=0>1 activities and levels of TBARS and nitrite, and elevated albumin content, GSH level and activities of SOD, CAT, GR and GPx, compared to ethanol-treated group. Thus, results from the study demonstrated that both resveratrol (5 mg kg^-1 day^-1) and vitamin E (80 mg kg^-1 day^-1) can effectively ameliorate ethanol (1.6 g kg^-1 day^-1)-induced oxidative challenges, immunomodulatory activity and angiogenesis processes.