Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer extract counteracts the oxidative stress in rats fed multi-mycotoxins-contaminated diet.

The current study was conducted to evaluate the protective effects of Panax ginseng extract (PGE) against the toxicity and oxidative stress in rats fed aflatoxin (AFs) and/or fumonisin (FB)-contaminated diet. Eighty female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into eight experimental groups included the control group, the group treated orally with PGE (0.5 mg/kg b.w.) and the groups fed AFs (1.4 mg/ kg diet) and/or FB (20 mg/kg b.w.) contaminated diet alone or plus PGE for 11 weeks. Blood, liver and kidney tissue samples were collected at the end of treatment period for biochemical and histological studies. The results indicated that PGE increased super oxide dismutase (SOD) level in liver; however, the other parameters were comparable to controls. Animals fed AFs and/or FBcontaminated diet showed a significant increase in serum biochemical parameters and oxidative stress markers accompanied with a significant decrease in antioxidant parameters levels and a severe histological changes in the liver tissue. These changes were more pronounced in the group fed AFs plus FB. PGE succeeded to induce a significant improvement in all biochemical parameters and the histological picture towards the control although it did not normalize them. It could be concluded that PGE is a promise candidate against the exposure to multi-mycotoxins in food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]