Quddus Abdul, Yimer Nurhusien, Jesse Faez Firdaus Abdullah, Basit Muhammad Abdul, Amir Maria, Islam Mohammed Sirajul
Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Science, Lasbela University of Agriculture Water and Marine Science, Uthal, Balochistan, 90150, Pakistan.
Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Dec;28(12):7068-7076. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.08.012. Epub 2021 Aug 8.
Cadmium (Cd) is often associated with reproductive disorders of mammals. Edible bird's nest (EBN) is a natural food product made of swiftlet's salivary secretion used to make their nests and it has been consumed as a tonic food for decades. This research aimed to study the protective effects of EBN against Cd-induced uterine toxicity in Sprague Dawley rats. Thirty (30) female Sprague Dawley rats were assigned into five groups as follows: group 1- negative control (NC) received distilled water; group 2 - positive control (PC) administered with CdCl, 5 mg/kg BW; while groups EBN-1, EBN-2, and EBN-3 received CdCl (5 mg/kg BW) plus graded concentrations of 60, 90 and 120 mg/kg BW of EBN, respectively. After four weeks of daily oral treatment, rats were euthanized to collect the uterus for evluations of histopathological changes, Cd concentrations and Metallothionein (MT) expressions using H&E stain, inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Blood samples were collected for superoxide dismutase (SOD) analysis using SOD assay kit. Results revealed that the CdCl without EBN supplement (PC) group had elevated levels of Cd in the uterus along with increased MT expressions and decreased SOD enzyme activity as compared to the NC group. Moreover, uterine histopathological changes, including glandular cysts and loss of normal structure of luminal epithelium (LE) and glandular epithelium (GE) were found in the PC group. Interestingly, groups treated with CdCl along with EBN (EBN1, EBN2, EBN3) showed lower levels of uterine tissue Cd deposition and MT expression, lower degenerative changes with normal histomorphology of glands, and increased SOD activity as compared to the PC group. Overall, the findings revealed that oral exposure to Cd at a dose of 5 mg/kg BW resulted in significant alterations in the rat's uterus. However, the toxicity effect was averted by EBN treatment in a dose dependant manner; highest protection achieved with EBN 120 mg/kg BW, through a possible detoxification mechanism and prevention of Cd deposition.
镉（Cd）常与哺乳动物的生殖紊乱有关。食用燕窝（EBN）是一种由金丝燕唾液分泌物制成的天然食品，用于筑巢，数十年来一直被作为滋补食品食用。本研究旨在探讨食用燕窝对镉诱导的Sprague Dawley大鼠子宫毒性的保护作用。将30只雌性Sprague Dawley大鼠分为五组，如下：第1组为阴性对照组（NC），给予蒸馏水；第2组为阳性对照组（PC），给予CdCl₂，5 mg/kg体重；而EBN - 1组、EBN - 2组和EBN - 3组分别给予CdCl₂（5 mg/kg体重）加60、90和120 mg/kg体重的不同浓度食用燕窝。经过四周的每日口服治疗后，处死大鼠以收集子宫，分别使用苏木精和伊红染色、电感耦合等离子体质谱（ICP - MS）和免疫组织化学评估组织病理学变化、镉浓度和金属硫蛋白（MT）表达。采集血样，使用超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）检测试剂盒进行SOD分析。结果显示，与NC组相比，未补充食用燕窝的CdCl₂（PC）组子宫中镉水平升高，MT表达增加，SOD酶活性降低。此外，在PC组中发现了子宫组织病理学变化，包括腺囊肿以及腔上皮（LE）和腺上皮（GE）正常结构的丧失。有趣的是，与PC组相比，用CdCl₂加食用燕窝处理的组（EBN1、EBN2、EBN3）子宫组织中镉沉积和MT表达水平较低，腺体退行性变化较少，组织形态正常，且SOD活性增加。总体而言，研究结果表明，以5 mg/kg体重的剂量口服镉会导致大鼠子宫发生显著改变。然而，食用燕窝治疗以剂量依赖的方式避免了毒性作用；120 mg/kg体重的食用燕窝通过可能的解毒机制和防止镉沉积实现了最高的保护效果。
