Chemotherapeutic efficacy of curcumin against plasma and cardio-hepatorenal electrolyte disruption in dichlorvos-challenged rats via augmentation of Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺-ATPase activities

Dichlorvos (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate or DDVP) is an effective organophosphate pesticide extensively employed in various pest management applications. However, it elicits cytotoxicity. Curcumin is a well-known antioxidant phytochemical, but publications lack data on its influence on DDVP-occasioned electrolyte disruption in animals. Hence, this exploration examined the antidotal efficacy of curcumin on electrolyte and ATPase pump distortions in a DDVP-poisoned rat model. Forty-two rats were randomly distributed into seven groups (6 rats/group): DDVP alone (20 mg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹), DDVP supplemented with curcumin (50 and 100 mg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹), or reference medication atropine (0.2 mg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹), and curcumin alone (50 and 100 mg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹). DDVP was administered orally for one week, followed by two weeks of curcumin intervention. Then, the rats were humanely sacrificed. Plasma and visceral (liver, kidney, and heart) sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, and bicarbonate concentrations, and visceral Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺-ATPase activities, were quantified by spectrophotometry. DDVP significantly ( p < 0.05) increased plasma potassium and magnesium concentrations by 7 % and 211 % folds, respectively, but decreased plasma sodium, calcium, chloride and bicarbonate by 11 %, 77 %, 58 %, and 62 %, respectively. Curcumin post-exposure therapy significantly ( p < 0.05) (1) reversed DDVP-engendered plasma hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, hypocalcemia, hypermagnesemia, hypochloremia, and hypobicarbonemia; (2) upturned DDVP-triggered increases in visceral sodium, calcium, chloride, and bicarbonate concentration; (3) rescinded DDVP-instigated decreases in visceral potassium and magnesium levels; and (4) abated DDVP-prompted inhibitions of visceral Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺-ATPase activities to varying extents. These results demonstrated that curcumin chemotherapy improved visceral functions and corrected ionoregulatory disruptions in DDVP-treated rats via modulation of adenosine triphosphatases pump.