Puerarin protects the rat liver against oxidative stress-mediated DNA damage and apoptosis induced by lead

Puerarin (PU), a natural flavonoid, has been reported to have many benefits and medicinal properties. In this study, we valuated the protective effect of puerarin against lead-induced oxidative DNA damage and apoptosis in rat liver. A total of forty male Wistar rats (8-week-old) was divided into 4 groups: control group; lead-treated group (500 mg Pb/l as the only drinking fluid); lead + puerarin treated group (500 mg Pb/l as the only drinking fluid plus 400 mg PU/kg bwt intra-gastrically once daily); and puerarin-treated group (400 mg PU/kg bwt intra-gastrically once daily). The experimental period was lasted for 75 successive days. Our data showed that puerarin significantly effectively improved the lead-induced histology changes in rat liver and decreased the serum ALT and AST activities in lead-treated rats. Puerarin markedly restored Cu/Zn-SOD, CAT and GPx activities and the GSH/GSSG ratio in the liver of lead-treated rat. Furthermore, the increase of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine induced by lead was effectively suppressed by puerarin. The enhanced caspase-3 activity in the rat liver induced by lead was also inhibited by puerarin. TUNEL assay showed that lead-induced apoptosis in rat liver was significantly inhibited by puerarin, which might be attributed to its antioxidant property. In conclusion, these results suggested that puerarin could protect the rat liver against lead-induced injury by reducing ROS production, renewing the activities of antioxidant enzymes and decreasing DNA oxidative damage.