Cadmium and Mercury effects on the stress oxidative and AHR-CYP1A1 pathway in liver of mice

Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR) is an environmental sensor and sensitive to oxidative change. However, little is known about the effects of stress, especially oxidative stress, on aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of oxidizing compounds on the function of aryl hydrocarbon receptor in mice.

For this purpose, in mice treated with Formylindolo[3,2-b] carbazole (FICZ), buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg), the effects of oxidants on the function of aryl hydrocarbon receptors were studied for 3 and 24 hours.

For the first time, the data of this research unveil a clear relationship between Cytochrome P450 Family 1 Subfamily A Member 1 (CYP1A1) activity and cellular oxidative status. The in vivo findings indicated that the duration of activation/inhibition of aryl hydrocarbon receptors was directly related to the increase/decrease of the reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) ratio.

This study showed that many environmental pollutants such as heavy metals and oxidants might affect the normal function of AHR target enzymes like CYP1A1 by altering intracellular oxidative potential.