Hepatoprotective Role of Clay and Nano Clay for Alleviating Aflatoxin Toxicity in Male Rats

Amany A. El-Sadawy, Amina M.G. Zedan and Hala M. Gamal El-Dein

Background and Objective: Aflatoxin formed by Aspergillus sp. causes acute hepatotoxicity by DNA damage, gene expression disruption and induced liver carcinoma in humans and laboratory animals. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the protective role of both clay and nano clay as adsorbents to inhibit the side effect of Aflatoxin (AF) by measures the common biological assay of aflatoxicosis in rats along with hepatic gene expression and comet assay. Materials and Methods: Six weeks old male albino rats were distributed into 6 groups with 10 rats per group fed on, Group 1: Basal diet, Group 2: Basal diet with clay (5 g kg^–1 diet), Group 3: Basal diet with nano clay (5 g kg^–1 diet), Group 4: AF-contaminated diet (1 mg kg^–1 diet), Group 5: AF with clay, Group 6: AF with nano clay. Results: AF induced a noticeable increase in the liver function parameters, accompanied by a significant decrease in antioxidant enzyme activities and significant histological alterations in liver tissues. The obtained qPCR results showed a significant up regulation in the expression of Cyp3A6, HO-1, TNFα and NFKB genes in the liver of rats treated with aflatoxin. In contrast, there is a significant down regulation in the expression levels of the Glut2 gene in liver rats treated with aflatoxin. Also, aflatoxin induced a significant increase in DNA damage. Clay and nano clay succeeded in ameliorating the toxic effects of aflatoxin. Conclusion: The results indicated the effective role of clay and nano clay in alleviating aflatoxin and reduce its harmful effects.

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