Antioxidant Effects of Amygdalin on Tunicamycin-induced Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in the Mice Liver: Cross Talk between Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Oxidative Stress

Both endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and oxidative stress are involved in pathophysiology of many diseases. Recently, a cross talk between ER stress and oxidative stress has been identified. Amygdalin is an active ingredient in the seeds of apricots, bitter almonds, peaches, and other rosaceous plants.

This study was designed to evaluate the antioxidant effects of amygdalin on the liver-induced ER stress.

C57/BL6 inbred male mice were placed in five groups comprising saline, vehicle, and amygdalin as control groups. ER stress was induced by tunicamycin (TM) injection (ER stress group). Amygdalin was administered 1 h before TM challenge (ER stress + amygdalin group). Liver tissue supernatants were prepared and malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione (GSH) were measured.

The findings showed that ER stress increased MDA level and decreased SOD and CAT activity and GSH level (P < 0.05). Pretreatment with amygdalin decreased MDA concentration, whereas it increased SOD and CAT levels (P < 0.05).

This study showed that amygdalin attenuated TM-induced ER stress and has a considerable antioxidant activity in the liver tissue.