Abstract:

Objective     To study effects of alum on monoamine oxidase(MAO) and acetylcholinesterase(AChE) activities, and the acetylcholine(ACh) content in the rat brain. Methods     Thirty-two Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: the control group, the low dose group, the moderate dose group and the high dose group, and the 3 treatment groups were administrated alum for 30d, the doses of alum in food were 1457, 2914 and 4371mg/kg, respectively. The brain coefficients were calculated. Activities of MAO and AChE, and content of Ach were detected. Results      The brain coefficients were increased with the increase of alum in the treatment groups. Compared with the control group, the brain coefficients in the moderate and high dose groups were significantly higher (P<0.01); level of the MAO activity in the high dose group was significantly increased (P<0.05), while the low and moderate dose groups had no significant difference (P>0.05). There was an increasing trend in the AChE activity with increase of alum in the 3 treatment groups, and the AChE activity in the moderate and high dose groups were significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.01). Rats with moderate and high alum administration showed a significant decline in the brain ACh content compared with the control rats (P<0.01). Conclusion     Alum can affect activities of MAO and AChE, and content of ACh, and cause damage to the central cholinergic system, which may be one mechanism of alum′s neurotoxic effect on rats.

Key words: Alum；Monoamine oxidase；Acetylcholinesterase； Acetylcholine；Rats