Protective Effect of N-acetyl-cysteine Against Rat Liver Mitochondrial Toxicity Induced by CuSO4

 Copper sulfate (CuSO4) is a toxic substance with a broad range of applications; however, the ingestion of high levels of it cause a wide range of complications in the liver tissue. According to previous studies, mitochondria are potential targets for CuSO4 toxicity. The present study aimed to examine the role of N-acetyl-cysteine as an antioxidant agent in the protection of mitochondria against toxicity induced by CuSO4.

 This study was performed on isolated liver mitochondria extracted from male Wistar rats (180-200 g) by multiple centrifuges and finally divided into 5 different groups. Group 1 was the control group, while group 2 received a single dose of 106 µM of CuSo4. The other groups were pretreated with different concentrations of N-acetyl-cysteine (1, 2, 5 mM) and exposed to 106 µM of CuSO4. Subsequently, MTT assay, lipid peroxidation, and GSH (reduced glutathione) were determined in each group. Finally, the collected data were analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance test.

 The results of the present study revealed that significant changes in mitochondrial indexes such as mitochondrial complex Ⅱ function, mitochondrial glutathione reduction, and lipid peroxidation levels were evident in rat liver mitochondria exposed to CuSO4. On the other hand, it was found that pre-treatment with N-acetylcysteine efficiently inhibited CuSO4 toxicity.

The results confirmed the protective effects of N-acetyl-cysteine against CuSO4 toxicity on rat liver mitochondria, which may be due to its ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species.