title: Protective effects of melatonin against oxidative damage induced by Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) crude venom in rats.
abstract: Naja haje envenomation is one of the leading causes of death due to snakebite. Antiserum therapy sometimes fails to provide enough protection against venom toxicity. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of melatonin against N. haje venom in rats. The animals were injected with venom (0.25mg/kg) and/or melatonin (10mg/kg) and compared with vehicle-treated rats. There was oxidative/nitrosative damage and apoptosis in the liver, heart, and kidneys of venom-injected rats. Melatonin counteracted the increased lipoperoxidation and nitric oxide, prevented decreased glutathione peroxidase and reductase activity, reduced the glutathione disulfide/glutathione (GSSG/GSH) ratio, and maintained the GSH pool. Furthermore, melatonin administration was associated with a reduction of apoptosis, which was increased in venom-injected rats. Overall, these results suggest that melatonin mitigates oxidative/nitrosative stress in venom-induced cardio-hepato-renal injury in rats. Our results suggest that melatonin treatment may ameliorate some of the effects of N. haje envenomation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ahmed E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Abdel Moneim
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, UnUniversidad de Granada, and RETICEF, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, UnUniversidad de Granada, and RETICEF, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Roberto C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Leonardo-Mendonça
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, UnUniversidad de Granada, and RETICEF, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vergano-Villodres
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, UnUniversidad de Granada, and RETICEF, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Guerrero-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, UnUniversidad de Granada, and RETICEF, Granada, Spain; Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, UnUniversidad de Granada, and RETICEF, Granada, Spain; Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain; Unidad de Gestión Clínica de Laboratorios Clínicos, Hospital Universitario San Cecilio, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Darío
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Acuña-Castroviejo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica, Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud, UnUniversidad de Granada, and RETICEF, Granada, Spain; Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain. Electronic address: gescames@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Germaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Escames
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004546:Elapid Venoms / Q000633:toxicity*; D017815:Elapidae; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D005980:Glutathione Reductase / Q000378:metabolism; D006321:Heart; D006836:Hydro-Lyases / Q000378:metabolism; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D015538:Nitrosation; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012909:Snake Bites / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D004546:Elapid Venoms; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase; D005980:Glutathione Reductase; D006836:Hydro-Lyases; C045581:lactate dehydratase; D008550:Melatonin
keywords: Apoptosis; Melatonin; Naja haje venom; Oxidative damage