Comparative study of antioxidant activity of α-eleostearic acid and punicic acid against oxidative stress generated by sodium arsenite

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antioxidant efficacy of α-eleostearic acid and punicic acid, two isomers of conjugated linolenic acid, in terms of normalization of altered biochemical parameters of oxidative stress following sodium arsenite treatment in rats. Animals were divided into four groups. The first group used as control. While, group 2, 3 and 4 were orally treated with α-eleostearic acid (0.5% of total lipid given) plus sodium arsenite (Sa; 10 mg/kg BW), punicic acid (0.5% of total lipid given) plus sodium arsenite (Sa; 10 mg/kg BW) and sodium arsenite (Sa; 10 mg/kg BW), respectively. Results showed that activities of antioxidant enzymes decreased significantly due to oxidative stress generated by sodium arsenite. Lipid peroxidation also increased due to sodium arsenite administration. α-Eleostearic acid and punicic acid acted as antioxidant and caused mostly all the altered parameters restored to normal level. Results also showed that antioxidant activity of α-eleostearic acid was more predominant than that of punicic acid.