| dc.description.abstract | Potassium bromate is an oxidizing agent and one of the best and cheapest dough improvers in the baking and food industry. Although negative effects are not evident in animals fed diets made from flour treated with KBrO3, the agent is classified as carcinogenic in rats and nephrotoxic in both man and experimental animals when given orally. Red onion that is Allium cepa used in daily diet for taste. Onions also have number of medicinal properties, such as anticancer, antifungal, antioxidant, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, etc. This study was designed to investigate the protective effects of aqueous extract of red onion against KBrO3- induced toxicity. This can be achieved by monitoring changes in hematological and biochemical parameters and histopathological observation. 36 Wistar male rats divided into 6 batches. During a 4 week period, (group I) served as a control. Group II received (100 mg/kg b.w of KBrO3) on the 24th and 27th days. Group III received 1 ml of red onion juice/ 100 g b. w every day and (100 mg/kg b.w of KBrO3) on the 24th and 27th days of the experiment. The group IV received (50 mg/kg b.w of KBrO3) twice a week. Group V received 1ml of red onion juice/100 g b. w /day and (50 mg/kg b.w of KBrO3) twice a week. The (group VI) received (30 mg/kg KBrO3) every day till the last. The rats were weighed and sacrificed after completion of the treatment, Blood samples for hematological and biochemical analysis. Kidney and small intestine tissues were collected and fixed in 10% formalin for histopathological studies. The results showed significant (p< 0.05) increase in the WBC in groups received (30&50 mg/ kg b.w of KBrO3) and significant (p< 0.05) decrease in PLT in group that received (100 mg/ kg b.w of KBrO3). Additionally, results showed significant (p<0.05) increase in urea, uric acid creatinine, ALP and AST in all treated groups with KBrO3 compared to the controls. However, administration of red onion juice with KBrO3 showed improvement in the studied parameters. The histopathological analysis of kidney showed dilatation of Bowman's capsule, hemorrhage, degeneration, congestion, necrosis as well as the loss of brush border in renal tubules. KBrO3-treated small intestine showed degenerative villi, an increase in the goblet cells in epithelium and the mucosa of the intestine is infiltrated by inflammatory cells. From these results it is clear that the toxic effect of KBrO3 were pronounced more in the group that received single dose of 100 mg/ kg b. w. This indicates that the higher the dose, the greater the effect. The daily dose of (30 mg/kg KBrO3) also indicates the risk of daily exposure to potassium bromate. Also, the red onion juice works as protective agent against KBrO3 induced damage by reducing the physiological and histological alterations. These results suggested that the protective effect of red onion may be attributed to their antioxidant activities. | en_US |
