Biochemical Potential of Vitamin C as the Free Radical Scavenger and Increase Reduced Glutathione (GSH) in Brain of Female Rat Administered Combined Oral Contraceptives.

Abstract

Background

Several millions of women in reproductive age all over the world make  use of combined oral contraceptive to prevent  unwanted pregnancy and treat  menstrual   abnormalities.Most combined oral contraceptives has been  shown to induce oxidative stress  in tissues such as brain. Since vitamin c has been shown with high antioxidant probabilities in many studies. The present study was undertaken to assess the potential of vitamin c as the free radical scavenger and increase reduced glutathione (GSH) in  brain of female rat  administered  combined oral contraceptives.

Method

The experiment was performed in 24 female Wistar rats weighing  180g - 250 g. The animals were divided into 4 groups: Group 1(control), group 2(Vitamin C only ) (150mg/kg body weight). group 3(Combined Oral Contraceptive only) (0.667mg/kg body weight)and group 4(Combined Oral Contraceptive and vitamin C only) . After completing the experiments, the brains of all animals were collected and homogenized for further biochemical determination of antioxidant enzyme activities and vitamin C level.Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA test followed by the Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test for analysis of biochemical data using SPSS version 10.0 .

Results

It was observed that group 3 treated with combined oral contraceptives only showed decreased GSH activity accompanying with oxidative stress, indicating by, the increased MDA activity and The beneficial effects of vitamin C  treatment were shown in group 4 treated with  combined oral contraceptives and vitamin C  only accompanying with reduced oxidative stress. The effects are likely in dose-dependent manner.

Conclusion

This study indicates that vitamin c is effective in decreasing oxidative stress in the brain and help recovery of damages in cognitive function caused by combined oral contraceptives

Keywords: Combined Oral Contraceptive,Vitamin C,Brain  and antioxidant enzymes