1,2-Dimethylhydrazine (
DMH), a colon-specific environmental toxicant is one among the
carcinogen responsible for the cause of
colon cancer. The present study was designed to evaluate the protective effect of
Hesperetin (HST) against colon toxicity induced by
DMH in Wistar rats. HST, a
flavonoid widely found in citrus fruits possesses several biological activities including anti-microbial,
anti-oxidant properties among others. A single dose of
DMH (40 mg/kg
body weight) was administered subcutaneously on 1st day for induction of colon toxicity followed by oral treatment with HST at a dose of 20 mg/kg bodyweight for 14 consecutive days.
DMH administration leads to excessive ROS generation, resulting in an imbalance in redox homeostasis and causing
membrane lipid peroxidation, which is also partly due to the decrease in the level of tissue
antioxidant machinery. Our result showed HST significantly ameliorates
DMH-induced lipid peroxidation and also substantially increases the activity/level of various
anti-oxidant proteins (GR, GPx, GST, GSH, and SOD). HST was also found to reduce the expression of inflammatory
proteins (TNF-α, IL-6, i-NOS, COX-2, NF-kB-p65), goblet cell disintegration as well as
mucin depletion (sulfo and
sialomucin) in the colon that was found to be elevated upon administration of
DMH. Our histological results further provide confirmation of the protective role of HST against
DMH-induced pathological alterations. The results of the present study demonstrate supplementation of HST is beneficial in ameliorating
DMH-induced toxicity by suppressing oxidative stress,
inflammation, goblet cell disintegration as well
mucin depletion in the colon of Wistar rats.