Résumé:
Environmental toxicology is nowadays facing a great challenge especially as it is addressing
to study the impact of toxic pollutants on the living organism of the general population, in
contrast to professional pharmacology or toxicology which target limited groups in their
professional and medical milieu with well-known diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
Indeed, many food biological matrixes are contaminated with pesticides, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons and heavy metals with very little concentrations that we consider such
negligible daily doses but which could accumulate with the time because their solubility in
different organs. This study focuses on the preventive effect of some bioactive compounds
such as vitamin C, vitamin E, quercetin and phenolic extract from orange peel Citrus
Senensis, against the toxic impact of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, the naphthalene and
endosulfan, as organochlorine pesticide on brain and immune systems. The results showed a
significant change in neuronal redox status in cytosol and brain mitochondria. Indeed,
endosulfan and naphthalene administered alone or in mixture at the respective doses of 2mg /
kg and 50 mg / kg, showed a disturbance in the balance prooxidant / antioxidant in cell
compartmentalization since they caused a significant fall in the level of GSH, GST, SOD and
CAT cytosolic rats treated with these chemicals. The results of these studies have also shown
a significant increase in MDA cytosolic and a highly significant reduction of cytosolic
proteins level was also recorded compared to the control group. Furthermore, the results of
this work have showed a very significant decrease in mitochondrial enzymatic activity of
SOD and CAT parallel to fall of GSH rate. Increased peroxidation was recorded via the
significant increase in mitochondrial MDA following animal exposure to endosulfan alone at
a dose of 2 mg / kg, reflecting a loss of integrity mitochondrial membranes. Conversely, the
administration of quercetin (10 mg / kg) associated with endosulfan (2mg / kg) was able to
prevent this neuro-mitochondrial toxicity in rats. The in vitro study of the mitochondrial
integrity showed, in the presence of increasing concentrations of endosulfan, a decrease in
absorbance of mitochondrial suspensions, demonstrating that mitochondria were received
massive internalization of water via the opening giant mitochondrial pores (MPTP), causing
them to swell. Inversely, the tubes containing endosulfan and quercetin showed similar
absorbance to the control tube, which provides information on the maintenance of intact
mitochondrial integrity which not allowed undergoing this swelling.
This study also showed a toxic effect on the immune and blood systems through a very
significant increase in the overall number of lymphocytic cells in rats of groups treated with
the mixture endosulfan and naphthalene. It was also found that in the same study, a significant
and very significant respective reduction in granulocytes and monocytes rates. The evaluation
of some blood biochemical parameters did appear impairment of liver function, kidney and
pancreas via the significant increase in transaminases enzymes in the blood serum (TGO and
TGP), cholesterol, triglycerides, urea, creatinin and blood glucose compared to the control
group. Meanwhile, bioactive substances used in these studies, warned the occurrence of these
disturbances in the function of these organs in animals exposed to these persistent organic
products. In conclusion, the results of this present study showed that endosulfan and
naphthalene have neurotoxic power and immunomodulator effect in environmental doses
which have been administered individually or associated in rats. Moreover, it appears that
these persistent organic products significantly alter liver and kidney function.