The Hepatotoxicity and Testicular Toxicity Induced by Arecoline in Mice and Protective Effects of Vitamins C and E

Arecoline is a major alkaloid of areca nuts which are widely chewed by southeast Asian and it manifests various toxic effects in different organs of human and animals. In this work, mature mice were treated by vitamins C plus E, arecoline, or both daily for four weeks. The results showed that arecoline significantly increased the levels of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and significantly decreased the levels of reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the liver tissues. Additionally, the body weight, testis weight, sperm counts, motility and normal sperms also were significantly decreased. The supplement of vitamins C and E can bring the activities of ALP and GPT to normal levels and partially restore the sperm counts compared to the arecoline-treated group but have no other positive effects. In conclusion, the vitamins C and E partially attenuated the arecoline-induced hepatotoxiciy but basically had on protective effects against the arecoline-induced testicular toxicity.