Toxicology 219 (2006) 133–141 Acrylamide-induced oxidative stress and biochemical perturbations in rats M.I. Yousef ∗ , F.M. El-Demerdash Department of Environmental Studies, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt Received 13 August 2005; received in revised form 10 November 2005; accepted 10 November 2005 Available online 15 December 2005 Abstract Acrylamide is neurotoxic to experimental animals and humans. Also, it has mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of different doses of acrylamide on some enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in male rats. Animals were assigned at random to one of the following treatments: group 1 served as control, while groups 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were treated with 0.5, 5, 25, 50, 250 and 500 g/kg body weight of acrylamide, respectively in drinking water for 10 weeks. Acrylamide significantly decreased plasma protein levels and the activity of creatine kinase, while increased plasma phosphatases. The activities of transaminases and phosphatases were significantly decreased in liver and testes, while lactate dehydrogenase did not change compared to control group. Plasma and brain acetylcholinesterase activity was significantly decreased. The concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, and the activities of glutathione S-transferase and superoxide dismutase in plasma, liver, testes, brain, and kidney were increased in acrylamide-treated rats. On the other hand, results obtained showed that acrylamide significantly reduced the content of sulfhydryl groups and protein in different tissues. The present results showed that different doses of acrylamide exerted deterioration effects on enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in a dose-dependent manner. © 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Acrylamide; Enzyme activities; Lipid peroxidation; Rats Abbreviations: AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; CK, creatine kinase; AlP, alkaline phosphatase; AcP, acid phosphatase; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; AChE, acetyl- cholinesterase; GST, glutathione S-transferase; SOD, superoxide dis- mutase; SH-groups, sulfhydryl groups; TBARS, thiobarbituric acid- reactive substances; GSH, reduced glutathione; TP, total protein; A, albumin; G, globulin ∗ Corresponding author at: University of Alexandria, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Department of Environmental Stud- ies, 163 Horreya Avenue, P.O. Box. 832, Alexandria 21526, Egypt. Tel.: +20 34 29 50 07; fax: +20 34 28 57 92. E-mail address: mokhtar yousef@yahoo.com (M.I. Yousef). 1. Introduction Acrylamide is an ,-unsaturated carbonyl com- pound with a significantly high chemical activity. It is extensively used in many fields from industrial manu- facturing to laboratory personnel work, so it is often absorbed during occupational exposure (Meng et al., 2001; Boettcher et al., 2005). It is the monomer, from which polyacrylamides are synthesised. The latter are used in the treatment of water, cosmetics and paper pack- aging. Acrylamide does not occur naturally. It was found in various fried, deep-fried and oven-baked foods. It con- cerned foods that are regularly consumed throughout the years, like chips (French fries), crisps and bread, but also biscuits, crackers and breakfast cereals (Tareke et al., 0300-483X/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tox.2005.11.008