Objective: This study was undertaken to investigate the toxic effects of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) on rat’s brain with and without supplementation of omega-3 fatty acid.
Methods: This study was conducted at King Fahad research center, KAU, Jeddah, on 60 rats divided into four groups,15 rats each. Group I serves as control, Group II injected ip with GNPs for 6 days. Group III: injected as in group II accompanied with oral supplementation of omega-3 Group IV: supplemented orally with omega-3, followed by injection with GNPs. Oxidative stress, DNA damage immuno-inflammatory mediator’s biomarkers, and CNS enzymes were determined. Histopathological studies in brain tissues was also done.
Results: The study revealed the presence of oxidative stress in the treated animals, accompanied by an increase in 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, caspase-3 and pro inflammatory markers TNF-α and NFkB. Gold nanoparticles also caused a significant decrease in the levels of CNS enzymes AChE and MAO, co and pre-supplementation of omega-3 attenuate all of the parameters to normalcy. However, pronounced attenuation were recorded in animals pre- treated with omega-3.
Conclusion: The results indicated the protected role of omega-3 against GNPs neurotoxic damage in rats brain through its down regulation of the studied parameters. The biochemical result was supported by histopathological findings. Pretreatment with omega-3 was indicating a possible prophylactic impact of omega-3