Abstract:

The protective effect of resveratrol against nicotine induced oxidative damage on urogenital tissues was evaluated by biochemical, histological and functional studies. Wistar Albino rats were injected with either nicotine hydrogen bitartarate (0.6 mg/kg/day, ip) or saline. Resveratrol (10 mg/kg, po) was administered along with saline or nicotine injections for 28 days. After decapitation, the urinary bladder, corpus cavernosum and kidney tissues were excised. Corpus cavernosum and bladder tissues were used for in vitro contractility studies, or stored at -80 ºC along with kidney tissue for the measurement of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and luminol-lucigenin chemiluminescence (CL) levels. Tissue samples were also examined histologically. Chronic nicotine administration caused a significant decrease in GSH levels and increases in MDA levels, and luminol-lucigenin CL in kidney, urinary bladder and corpus cavernosum tissues, suggesting oxidative organ damage, which was also verified histologically. In serum samples increased blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-1β), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, oxidative DNA damage (8-OHdG) and decreased antioxidant capacity (AOC) due to nicotine administration were reversed with resveratrol. Furthermore, chronic nicotine administration impaired the contractile activity of the bladder and corpus cavernosum strips while resveratrol supplementation to nicotine-treated animals reversed these effects in both tissues. Resveratrol treatment to the nicotine group restored the endogenous GSH levels and decreased oxidative damage parameters in all studied tissues. These data suggest that resveratrol supplementation effectively counteracts the deleterious effect of chronic nicotine administration on bladder, corpus cavernosum and kidney functions and attenuates oxidative damage possibly by its antioxidant effects.

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