EVALUATION OF THE HEPATOPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF VITAMIN E AND ALPHA-LIPOIC ACID AGAINST DIMETHOATE TOXICITY IN VITRO

Objective: In this study, the protective effects of vitamin E (Vit E) and alpha-lipoic acid (LA) against the hepatotoxicity of dimethoate, a widely used organophosphate pesticide, were investigated.Material and Method: The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test was applied to evaluate cell viability at 24 and 48 hours. The dichlorofluorescein diacetate test was used to evaluate reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation.Result and Discussion: Half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were calculated as 412 µM and 181 µM for 24 and 48 h, respectively. Dimethoate significantly decreased cell viability in HepG2 cells at 250 µM for 24 hours of exposure and at 50 µM for 48 hours of exposure. Cell viability decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Vit E was observed to increase cell viability significantly at 250 µM concentration (p<0.05) at 24 h. On the other hand, according to the 48-hour exposure results, Vit E was found to be protective against 100 and 250 µM dimethoate (p<0.01). Furthermore, at 4 h exposure, Vit E and LA significantly decreased the ROS levels induced by 100 µM dimethoate treatment (p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively). In 24 h exposure, it was observed that only Vit E significantly decreased (p<0.05) the ROS levels formed by 100 µM and 250 µM dimethoate treatment. The findings showed that Vit E could be a hepatoprotective agent against possible dimethoate toxicity.