CONCURRENT EFFECT OF LINUM USITATISSIMUM AND EMBLICA OFFICINALIS ON LEAD INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS AND HISTOMORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN UTERUS OF FEMALE WISTAR RATS

Lead (Pb) is one of the oldest environmental contaminants and is well known to cause deleterious systemic effects on man and domestic animals including the reproductive system. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of the combined administration of aqueous methanolic extract of Linum usitatissimum (Flaxseed) and aqueous extract of Emblica Officinalis (Amla) on lead-induced oxidative stress and pathological changes in the uterus of wistar rats. A total of 108 female adult wistar albino rats were randomly assigned to 6 groups with 18 rats in each group. Group I served as vehicle control and they received distilled water, group II was fed with lead acetate @ 60 mg/ kg b.wt., group III provided with Emblica Officinalis @ 100 mg/ rat/ day, group IV was given Linum usitatissimum @ 300 mg/ kg b.wt, group V had lead acetate @ 60 mg/ kg b.wt + Emblica Officinalis @ 100 mg/ rat/ day and group VI received lead acetate @ 60 mg/ kg b.wt + Linum usitatissimum @ 300 mg/ kg b. wt. for 45 days. In this study, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) increased and decreased levels of antioxidant enzymes like catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels in the uterus were noticed in the lead-treated group. Histopathology of the uterus showed severe degenerative changes and immunohistochemistry (IHC) with BAX markers in the uterus revealed increased expression with BAX markers in lead treated rats. The levels of all the above parameters were significantly improved in the ameliorated group (Groups V and VI). The observations made in the study indicated that treatment of amla and flaxseed in rats concurrently with the lead was shown to have an ameliorating effect and amla was found to be relatively better than that of flaxseed in amelioration of different pathological manifestations against lead-induced toxicity.