Subchronic exposure to a mixture of groundwater-contaminating metals through drinking water induces oxidative stress in male rats

The current study examines the oxidative stress-inducing potential of a mixture of metals, representative of groundwater contamination in different areas of India. Male albino rats were exposed to the mixture through drinking water for 90 days at 0, 1, 10 and 100 times the mode concentrations of the metals in contaminated waters and at concentrations equal to their WHO maximum permissible limit (MPL) in drinking water. The endpoints evaluated were lipid peroxidation (LPO), GSH content and activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase in heart, liver, kidney and brain. MPL and 1× levels did not induce any alterations. The mixture at 10× and 100× doses increased LPO and decreased GSH level and activities of the antioxidases in kidney, liver and brain, but no alterations were observed in heart. An inverse correlation between LPO and GSH or antioxidaes and a positive correlation between GSH and glutathione peroxidase or glutathione reductase were found in the affected organs. The findings suggest that the mixture induces oxidative stress and decreases antioxidant status in 10× and 100× the mode concentrations of the metals in drinking water.