Fenvalerate-induced Oxidative Stress in Erythrocytes and the Protective Role of Quercetin

This study was designed to investigate the ameliorative effect of Quercetin on Fenvalerateinduced biochemical alterations in human erythrocytes invitro. Erythrocytes are useful model to study the interaction of pesticides with biological membranes. Pesticides are thought to exert damaging effect on biomembranes through free radical generation; therefore antioxidants can play a crucial role in offering protection against pesticide induced oxidative damage. Quercetin is a potential antioxidant, known to be able to protect cells against oxidative damage. The biochemical parameters chosen to evaluate the effect of Quercetin were lipid peroxidation (LPO), selected antioxidant and membrane bound enzymes in erythrocytes. No statistical differences were found in the Quercetin treated groups compared with the control group. Following in vitro exposure, Fenvalerate caused a significant induction of oxidative damage in erythrocytes as evidenced by increased levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and decreased levels of GSH. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were found to be significantly reduced in Fenvalerate treated erythrocytes compared with the control erythrocytes. However, Quercetin pretreatment significantly prevented the decrease in the activities of antioxidant enzymes and membrane bound ATPases. The beneficial effects of Quercetin observed here presumably reflect the ability of this flavonoid to protect cells from the toxic effects of Fenvalerate.