Protective effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine and α-lipoic acid on the oxidative injury induced by mercury

Objective: To study the effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine(NAC) and α-lipoic acid(LA) on the acute toxicity of mercury.Methods: Thirty-two Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups(n=8): control group,mercury group,NAC pretreatment group,and LA pretreatment group.The rats were killed 48 hours after the last injection,and the activity of glutamic-pyruvic transaminase(GPT) in serum and the contents of mercury,malondialdehyde(MDA),and glutathione(GSH) and the activities of glutathione-peroxidase(GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase(SOD) in the liver and renal cortex were determined.Results: Compared with the control group,in mercury group,the activity of GPT in serum and the contents of mercury and MDA in the liver and renal cortex significantly increased;the content of GSH and the activities of GSH-Px and SOD in the liver and renal cortex significantly decreased.Compared with mercury group,in NAC and LA pretreatment groups,the activity of GPT in serum and the content of MDA in liver and renal cortex significantly decreased;the content of GSH and the activity of GSH-Px in liver and renal cortex and the activity of SOD in liver significant increased.Compared with mercury group,in LA pretreatment group,the content of mercury significantly decreased in liver and significantly increased in renal cortex.Conclusion:Pretreatment with NAC or LA could protect against the acute liver and kidney oxidative injuries induced by mercury.