CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

We have previously demonstrated that the administration of low doses of dimethoate, glyphosate and zineb to rats (i.p. 1/250 LD50, 3 times a week for 5 weeks), provokes severe oxidative damage to macromolecules in liver and in certain brain regions (substantia nigra, SN and cortex, CC). Lipoic acid (LA) is considered an ideal antioxidant due to its ability to scavenge reactive species and reset the levels of endogenous and exogenous antioxidants. To investigate the protective effect we administered LA (i.p. 50 and 100 mg/Kg body weight) simultaneously with the pesticide mixture for 5 weeks. Both doses prevent the formation of protein carbonyls (PCOs) and lipid peroxides (MDA) reverting the increases induced by pesticide treatment to almost basal values. LA demonstrates important antioxidant properties especially in SN, since pesticide treatment increases the MDA levels in 136% in SN and in 80% in CC and the LA treatment was able to completely normalize the values in both regions. LA is also able to restore the lower levels of alpha-tocopherol in the pesticide-treated group in all the tissues studied. The content of total glutathione in pesticidetreated rats doubles control ones and LA administration normalizes it. LA seems to be a protective agent against pesticide-induced damages and would be a promising therapeutic strategy in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsons disease.