Sinensetin mitigates polystyrene nanoplastics induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats: A biochemical and histopathological study

Polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) are environmental pollutants that induce oxidative stress (OS) in multiple organs particularly, liver. Sinensetin (SNS) is a naturally present flavones that shows diverse pharmaceutical properties i.e., anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic. Therefore, the present study was designed to evaluate the therapeutic role of SNS against PS-NPs induced hepatotoxicity. 48 rats were distributed into 4 groups i.e., control, PS-NPs (50 µgkg−1) treated, PS-NPs + SNS (50 µgkg−1 + 20 mgkg−1) co-treated and only SNS (20 mgkg−1) treated group. PS-NPs intoxication reduced the activities of catalase (CAT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidases (GPx) glutathione reductase (GSR) and glutathione (GSH) level, whereas increased the levels of ROS and MDA. Additionally, PS-NPs increased the levels of liver serum marker enzymes i.e., alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Moreover, the level of inflammatory makers such as nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activity were increased following the PS-NPS exposure. The intoxication of PS-NPs elevated Caspase-3, Bax and Caspase-9 levels, while reducing the Bcl-2 level. Furthermore, the exposure of PS-NPs induced significant histopathological damages in hepatic tissue of rats. However, the supplementation of SNS considerably improved the PS-NPs induced damages as well as histological changes due to its hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidant nature.