Ameliorative Effect of Alfa-Lipoic Acid on Cadmium-Intoxicated Developing Chicken Embryo

Abstract

Background: Exposure to heavy metals has increased due to recent industrial activities. The bioaccumulation of heavy metals, such as cadmium, has numerous negative effects on various organs. Cadmium interferes with biological functions like growth, proliferation, and differentiation of cells. Alfa-lipoic acid acts as a metal-chelating supplement that can help with vascular disease, hypertension, inflammation and fatty liver disease. Aim: The study aimed to assess the protective effect of alfa-lipoic acid in cadmium-intoxicated chicken embryos. Methodology: A total of 48 fertilised chicken eggs were divided into four groups, each having 12 eggs. On day 1 of incubation, group I eggs were kept as controls, group II eggs were intoxicated with cadmium (3μg/egg), group III eggs were treated with cadmium (3μg/egg) and alfa-lipoic acid (5μg/egg), and group IV eggs were treated with cadmium (3μg/egg) and alfa-lipoic acid (10μg/egg) in-ovo inoculation. Six eggs from each group were carefully opened in a Petri dish on the seventh day to assess the degree of vascularisation and embryonic deformity. Six eggs from each treatment group were opened on the fourteenth day to collect liver and heart tissue samples, which were stained with Hematoxylin & Eosin and Masson's trichrome stain to document histopathological changes. Results: Cadmium inhibited vascularisation in chicken embryos at the 7th day. Amplified vascularisation and arbourization of chief and small blood vessels were clearly apparent because of alfa-lipoic acid’s ameliorative effect. At the 14th day, cadmium-intoxicated chicken embryos showed significant necrosis, congestion, fibrosis, haemorrhage and hypertrophy of cells in hepatic and cardiac tissues. These pathological changes were reversed significantly by alfa-lipoic acid as seen in histology. Conclusion: As Alpha-lipoic acid protects cadmium-intoxicated developing chicken embryos by ameliorating decreased neovascularisation in the CAM and restoring normal cellular architecture of liver and heart, it can reduce the severity of cadmium intoxication.