Ameliorative potential of Punica granatum peel extract against Fipronil induced neuronal toxicity in Male Wistar Albino rats

Fipronil is a second-generation broad spectrum phenyl pyrazole insecticide used in veterinary, households, topical pet care products and agricultural practices. Indiscriminate and improper use of this insecticides leads to a range of harmful effects in both humans and animals. So the present study was carried out to explore the effect of fipronil toxicity in brain of wistar albino rats and to check the potential ameliorative effect of pomegranate peel extract (Punica granatum) in it. For this study 24 male Wistar albino rats that were randomly assigned to 4 groups with 6 rats in each group. Fipronil was gavaged @ 10 mg/kg b.wt. orally using distilled water as a vehicle to group II animals. Peel extract of Punica granatum @ 200 mg/kg b.wt. was fed to group IV along with fipronil for exploring the ameliorative effects for a period of 6 weeks. Group I and III served as vehicle control and Punica granatum control respectively. Oxidative stress estimation in brain tissue revealed significant increase (P<0.05) in the levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and decreased levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase, reduced glutathione and glutathione peroxidase in fipronil treated rats. Histopathological examination of same group showed sub-meningeal hemorrhages, capillary proliferation, neuronal degenerative changes like shrinkage, central chromatolysis, satellitosis and neuronophagia, gliosis, spongiosis in the cerebral cortex and rounding, shrinkage and loss of Purkinje cells of the cerebellum were also observed. Co-administration of Punica granatum (pomegranate peel extract) along with fipronil resulted in restoration of oxidative stress parameters and histological architecture of brain near to normal.