Vanadium as a chemoprotectant: effect of vanadium(III) cysteine complex against cyclophosphamide-induced hepatotoxicity and genotoxicity in Swiss albino mice

Vanadium is an essential micronutrient for living systems and has antioxidant and genoprotective property. In the present study, the protective role of an organovanadium compound vanadium(III)-l-cysteine (VC-III) was evaluated against hepatotoxicity and genotoxicity induced by cyclophosphamide (CP) (25 mg/kg b.w., i.p.) in Swiss albino mice. Treatment with VC-III (1 mg/kg b.w., p.o.) mitigated CP-induced hepatic injury as indicated by reduction in activities of alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase by 1.57-, 1.58- and 1.32-fold in concomitant treatment schedule and by 1.83-, 1.77- and 1.45-fold in pretreatment schedule, respectively, and confirmed by histopathological evidences. Parallel to these changes, VC-III ameliorated CP-induced oxidative stress in liver by 1.46-, 1.26-, 1.32- and 1.42-fold in concomitant treatment group and by 1.95-, 1.40-, 1.46- and 1.73-fold in pretreatment group at the level of H2O2, superoxide, nitric oxide and lipid peroxidation, respectively. VC-III also enhanced activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase and glutathione (reduced) level in mice liver by 1.46-, 1.37-, 1.29-, 1.44- and 1.45-fold in concomitant treatment schedule and by 1.64-, 1.65-, 1.42-, 1.49- and 1.57-fold in pretreatment schedule, respectively. In addition, the organovanadium compound could efficiently attenuate CP-induced chromosomal aberrations, DNA fragmentation and apoptosis in bone marrow cells and DNA damage in lymphocytes by 1.49-, 1.43-, 1.48- and 1.59-fold in concomitant treatment group and by 1.76-, 1.92-, 1.99- and 2.15-fold in pretreatment group, respectively. Thus, the present study showed that VC-III could exert protection against CP-induced hepatotoxicity and genotoxicity.