Protective mechanism of grape seed oil on carbon tetrachloride-induced brain damage in γ-irradiated rats

• The protective mechanism of grape seed oil on CCl4-induced brain damage in irradiated rat was studied.
• CCl4-induced acute brain damage as evident by elevation in MDA, XO, iNOS, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels
• CCl4 caused depletion of antioxidant enzymes: SOD, Cat, GPx activities and GSH level.
• Grape seed oil (GSO) exerts significant amelioration of the studied parameters.
• GSO has a neuroprotective effect against CCl4-induced brain injury in γ-irradiated rats.

This study investigated the possible beneficial effects of grape seed oil (GSO) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute neurotoxicity in γ-irradiated rats. A statistical significant decrease in superoxide-dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione-peroxidase (GPx) activities and reduced glutathione (GSH) content were exhibited. Further, a significant elevation in malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and transforming growth factor-beta-1 (TGF-β1) levels was observed. Furthermore, xanthine oxidase (XO) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene expression were elevated in the γ-irradiated animals treated with an acute dose of CCl4. The pretreatment of GSO exerts significant amelioration of the studied parameters. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that GSO has a neuroprotective effect against CCl4-induced brain injury in γ-irradiated rats, which is likely attributed to its ability to scavenge the free radicals, suppress the inflammatory responses, improve the activity of the antioxidant enzymes and inhibit the XO and iNOS gene expression levels.