Journal of Natural Sciences Research www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-3186 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0921 (Online) Vol.3, No.1, 2013 102 Protective Effect of Ascorbic Acid, Biopropolis and Royal Jelly against Aluminum Toxicity in Rats Magda E. Mahmoud 1 and Samaa S. Elsoadaa 2* 1Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Minia University, Egypt 2Department of clinical nutrition, Faculty of applied medical science, Umm Al Qura University,Saudi Arabia * E mail of the Corresponding author: dr.samaaelsoadaa@yahoo.com Abstract The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of ascorbic acid (AA), biopropolis and royal jelly in alleviating the toxicity of Aluminum chloride (AlCl 3 ) on body weight gain, feed efficiency and biochemical parameters in rats with hostological examination of sections from liver and kidney. Thirty female Wistar–Albino rats (160-170 g) were randomly divided into five equal groups of six rats each. As normal drinking water was given to the control group, while the four groups II, III, IV and V received 34 mg AlCl3/ L in drinking water daily. Group II received only AlCl 3 . Group III, IV and V were administrated orally with ascorbic acid, biopropolis and royal jelly, respectively at a dose 50 mg/kg bw twice a week for 8 weeks. AlCl 3 decreased significantly body weight gain and feed efficiency. While treatment of ascorbic acid (AA), propolis and royal plus AlCl 3 normalized their to control value. The relative weight (percent of body weight) of liver and kidney increased when compared with control while the brain did not illustrate any change. The level of urea, and the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were increased, while total protein and albumin were decreased in serum of rats treated with AlCl 3 . It can be concluded that ascorbic acid, propolis and royal jelly have beneficial influences and could be able to antagonize AlCl 3 toxicity. Keywords: Aluminum chloride: toxicity: ascorbic acid: biopropolis: royal jelly: rats 1. Introduction Aluminum (Al), the third most common element approximately 8% of total mineral components in the earth’s crust found combination with oxygen, silicon, fluorine and other elements in the soil, rocks, clays and gems has a significant toxic potential for humans (Verstraeten et al., 2008). Al is widely distributed in the environment and extensively used in daily life, which causes its easy exposure to human beings (Kumar and Gill, 2009). It gets access to the human body via the gastrointestinal and the respiratory tracts. Al is a constituent of cooking utensils and medicines such as antacids, phosphate binders, buffered aspirins, vaccines, antiperspirants, allergen injection (Exley, 1998)., deodorants and toothpaste (Abbasali, et al., 2005). Food and food additives contain small but variable amounts of Al (Reinhold, 1980) and this has allowed its easy access into the body (Yokel, 2000). Al absorption/ accumulation in humans can occur via the diet, drinking water, ingestion with fruit juices or citric acid causes a marked increase in both gastrointestinal absorption and urinary excretion of Al in healthy subjects (Venturini-Soriano and Berthon, 2001). The sources of Al are especially corn, yellow cheese, grain products (flour), salt, herbs, spices, tea leaves, many food products, vegetables, cereals, beverages cosmetics, cookware, cans and containers. Also, Al is added to drinking water for purification purposes (Turkez et al., 2010) Thus urban water supplies contain greater concentration of Al ions. Al accumulates in all tissues of the mammals, including kidney, liver, heart, blood, bone and brain (Al-Kahtani, 2010). Kidney plays a major role in preventing accumulation of Al by excreting it out through urine (Stoehr et al., 2006). Al is one of the most studied neurotoxicant affecting nervous system, including various regions of brain (Nehru and Bhalla, 2006). Some experts believe that Al plays a role in the formation of Alzheimer like neurofibrillary tangles (Sharma et al., 2009). Accumulation of Al in liver produces hepatic injury at higher concentrations (Shati and Alamri, 2010). Because of the cumulative nature of Al in the organism after dietary exposure, the European Food & Safety Authority (EFSA) (2008) established a tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for Al instead of a tolerable daily intake. The EFSA concluded recently that the estimated dietary exposure to Al in the general population in several European countries is likely to exceed the TWI in a significant part of the European population. Al ions alter properties and structure of cellular membranes, inhibit many enzymes like alkaline phosphatase, acetyl cholinesterase, and adenyl cyclase (Qitu et al., 2002, ). Antagonistic interactions between Al ions and other elements such as: calcium, magnesium, iron, silicon, phosphorus, copper, and zinc were observed in biological systems (Ward et al., 2001). Propolis has been used in folk medicine since ancient times and is known for its antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and antioxidant properties (Yousef , 2004; ). The chemical composition of propolis is