Balancing Risks versus Benefits: Vitamin C Therapy versus Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Toxicity in Albino Rats' Submandibular Salivary Gland

Mohamed Shamel; Safaa Baz; Heba Mahmoud; Salma Awad Taghyan; Mahmoud M Bakr; Mahmoud Al Ankily

doi:10.1055/s-0044-1786867

Balancing Risks versus Benefits: Vitamin C Therapy versus Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Toxicity in Albino Rats' Submandibular Salivary Gland

Eur J Dent. 2024 May 24. doi: 10.1055/s-0044-1786867. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mohamed Shamel¹, Safaa Baz², Heba Mahmoud¹, Salma Awad Taghyan¹, Mahmoud M Bakr³, Mahmoud Al Ankily¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, The British University in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt.
² Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, The British University in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt.
³ General Dental Practice, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

PMID: 38788769
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1786867

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the suppressive effect of the natural antioxidant vitamin C (VC) against submandibular gland toxicity induced by copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs).

Materials and methods: Three groups of 30 mature male albino rats (4 weeks old) weighing between 150 and 200 g were selected. The rats were randomly assigned for 6 weeks to receive: intraperitoneal injection (IP) of vehicle (control group); IP of 2.5 mg/kg body weight (bw) of CuO-NPs (CuO-NPs group); and IP of 2.5 mg/kg bw of CuO-NPs, combined with a daily oral dose of 100 mg/kg bw of VC in drinking water via gavage (CuO-NPs/VC group). The rats were euthanized, and their submandibular glands were dissected for histological evaluation, including hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry for K_i-67 and caspase-3.

Statistical analysis: The area expression for K_i-67 and caspase-3 was statistically analyzed using GraphPad Prism. Following analysis of variance analysis, Tukey's post hoc was used for multiple comparisons. The significance level was set at p < 0.05.

Results: CuO-NPs caused significant cytotoxic effects on submandibular salivary gland cells in albino rats. This led to an increase in K_i-67 and caspase-3 levels compared with the control group. VC administration improved tissue histology and reduced K_i-67 and caspase-3 levels in the VC/CuO-NPs group compared with rats treated with CuO-NPs alone.

Conclusion: The study revealed significant cytotoxic effects of CuO-NPs on the submandibular salivary gland of albino rats. VC effectively mitigated these toxic effects, suggesting its potential as a readily available antioxidant.

The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).