Recent findings suggest that oxidative stress caused by
pyrethroid pesticides could be closely involved in the neurotoxicity.
tert-Butylhydroquinone (
tBHQ) is a known inducer of Nrf2-mediated transcription, and treatment of cells with
tBHQ can confer protection against H 2O 2 and
6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). In this study, we investigated the
neuroprotective effect of
tBHQ against
deltamethrin (DM)-induced oxidative stress using rat PC12 adrenal
pheochromocytoma cells. The pretreatment of PC12 cells with
tBHQ significantly reduced DM-induced generation of
reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increased intracellular ionized
calcium ([Ca (2+)] i). We also observed that DM or
tBHQ induced the expression of
NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and
heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a Nrf2-regulated gene. In addition, the Nrf2
antioxidant responsive
element (ARE) pathways activated by
tBHQ caused a partial inhibition of the DM-induced Nrf2 and HO-1 expression. Altogether, our data clearly indicate that an activation of Nrf2/ARE pathways in PC12 cells by
tBHQ treatment protects cells from DM-induced oxidative stress and regulates DM- mediated adaptive responses in PC12 cells via translocation of Nrf2.