Vitamins C and E as Effective Protectors against Potassium Bromate-induced Cardiac Injury in Rats

Potassium bromate (KBrO3) is widely used in foods and water, in spite of its well-known oxidative cell and tissue damage. Therefore, vitamins C and E are examined to alleviate its cardiac injury. For this purpose 72 adult male albino rats were categorized into 6 groups. Group1 served as control; group 2 served 30 mg/Kg/ day vitamin C; group 3 served 300 mg/kg/day vitamin E; group 4 was injected intraperitoneally with KBrO3 20 mg/Kg/ dose twice weekly; and groups 5 and 6 received either vitamins C or E with KBrO3 in the same scheme. After 4 weeks, heart and serum were collected for analysis. KBrO3-induced cardiac injury was evidenced by a significant increase in serum asparate transaminase (AST), creatine phosphokinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) level. Significant reduction in cardiac collagen synthesis and elevation in matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were noticed in KBrO3-intoxicated rats. These changes were ameliorated in the vitamins C and E-treated groups through their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.