title: Chronic ethanol and nicotine interaction on rat tissue antioxidant defense system.
abstract: Ethanol consumption and cigarette smoking are common in societies worldwide and have been identified as injurious to human health. This study was undertaken to examine the interactive effects of chronic ethanol and nicotine consumption on the antioxidant defense system in different tissues of rat. Male Fisher-344 rats were divided into four groups of five animals each and treated for 6.5 weeks as follows: (1) Control rats were administered normal saline orally; (2) ethanol (20% [wt./vol.]) was given orally at a dose of 2 g/kg; (3) nicotine was administered subcutaneously at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg; and (4) a combination of ethanol plus nicotine was administered by the route and at the dose described above. The animals were killed 20 h after the last treatment, and liver, lung, kidney, and testes were isolated and analyzed. Chronic ingestion of ethanol resulted in a significant depletion of glutathione (GSH) content in liver, lung, and testes, whereas chronic administration of nicotine significantly depleted GSH content in liver and testes. The combination of ethanol plus nicotine resulted in a significant depletion of GSH content in liver, lung, and testes. Ethanol, nicotine, or a combination of ethanol plus nicotine significantly increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in liver and decreased SOD activity in kidney. Ethanol, nicotine, or a combination of ethanol plus nicotine significantly decreased catalase (CAT) activity in liver and increased CAT activity in kidney and testes. Chronic ingestion of ethanol resulted in a significant decrease in glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in liver and kidney, whereas a combination of ethanol plus nicotine increased GSH-Px activity in liver and decreased GSH-Px activity in kidney and testes. Ethanol, nicotine, or a combination of ethanol plus nicotine significantly increased lipid peroxidation, respectively, in liver. It is suggested that prolonged exposure to ethanol and nicotine produce similar, and in some cases additive, oxidative tissue injuries in rat.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL 62794-9629, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Husain
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Somani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004347:Drug Interactions / Q000502:physiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D000431:Ethanol; D009538:Nicotine; D002374:Catalase; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005978:Glutathione