Ameliorative potential of aqueous extract of broccoli sprouts against triazophos induced ovarian toxicity in wistar rats

Abstract

Traditional therapeutic procedures using antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables have been in vogue for the development of evidence-based biomarkers for assessing reproductive health. Present investigation was designed to study the antioxidative potential of broccoli sprouts aqueous extract (BE), against ovarian toxicity in female rats induced by triazophos (TZ). In the experimental setup, six groups of rats were formed; Control (group 1), BE (group 2), TZ (group 3), and also BE+TZ groups such as BE1 (group 4), BE2 (group 5) and BE3 (group 6) groups. Body weight was weekly recorded of all the rats, while vaginal smear was observed daily during 30 days experiment. After sacrifice, oxidative stress (OS) biomarkers levels viz; catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) were determined along with histopathological and apoptotic observation. Results revealed differentially modified changes in OS biomarkers as CAT, SOD, GR, GPx, and GST, while LPO levels were significantly improved with broccoli supplementation compared to TZ group rats. Plasma progesterone and estradiol levels were also restored along with improved ovarian histoarchitecture among all BE+TZ treated rats. Reduced apoptotic granulosa cells with reduced atresia and normal ovarian surface epithelium height were also observed with BE treatment. BE exerts multi-mechanistic protective effects against TZ induced ovarian toxicity which is attributable to its antioxidant and protective actions.