Hindawi Publishing Corporation ISRN Oxidative Medicine Volume 2013, Article ID 824102, 10 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/824102 Research Article Carbofuran Induced Oxidative Stress in Rat Heart: Ameliorative Effect of Vitamin C Sunil Kumar Jaiswal, 1 Nikhat J. Siddiqi, 2 and B. Sharma 1 1 Department of Biochemistry, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 211002, India 2 Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia Correspondence should be addressed to B. Sharma; sharmabi@yahoo.com Received 10 October 2013; Accepted 7 November 2013 Academic Editors: A. Shukla, Z. S. Talas, and Y. Yoshida Copyright © 2013 Sunil Kumar Jaiswal et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Te aim of this study was to evaluate the efect of carbofuran on the levels of certain biomarkers in heart of rat exposed to sublethal concentrations of pesticide for 30 days afer each interval of 24 h. Te ameliorative efect of vitamin C by pretreatment of rats was also monitored. Te results indicated that the activities of acetylcholinesterase and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) decreased signifcantly in rat heart tissues, the extent of inhibition being concentration dependent. In contrast, the level of LDH increased in serum. Te levels of malondialdehyde, total thiols, and glutathione were signifcantly elevated whereas the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione-S-transferase were remarkably decreased in rat heart tissues. Te serum concentrations of cholesterol increased by 47 and 77% and high density lipids decreased by 35 and 64%, respectively, due to exposure to 5 and 10% LD 50 of carbofuran. Te prior treatment of rats with vitamin C (100 mg kg −1 body weight) exerted signifcant ameliorative efect. Te recovery was higher at low carbofuran concentration (5%) tested. Te results indicated that carbofuran induced oxidative stress and caused damage to cardiac tissues, which could be recovered by prior application of vitamin C. 1. Introduction Te pesticides have been widely used since past few decades to improve the yield of agricultural and forestry plant prod- ucts. It is also used to protect the industry and household items. Te use of pesticide is not specifc which may lead to number of toxicological consequences to the environmental components [1]. Te lower toxicity and lesser environmental persistence of organocarbamates have led their application more frequent than any other pesticide such as organophos- phate (OP), organochlorines (OCl). Te OP pesticides inac- tivate acetylcholinesterase (AChE) via irreversible ester bond formation with hydroxyl group of serine residue present at the active site of enzyme. AChE is responsible for hydrolyzing the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine (ACh), in central as well as in peripheral nervous systems [2]. Te mechanism of action of organochlorine pesticides such as lindane (-hexa- chlorocyclohexane) is hyperexcitability [3] by both stimulat- ing the synaptic transmission and suppressing the GABA- activated chloride current by interacting with the receptor GABA-chloride channel complex [4]. Te organocarbamate pesticides cause reversible inhibition of AChE by carbamy- lation of serine residue of AChE. Te inhibition is therefore short lived. Tus, it causes relatively low toxicity as compared to OP and organochlorine pesticides [5]. Carbofuran (C 12 H 15 NO 3 ; 2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-7-ben- zofuranol methylcarbamate), commonly known as furadan, is a broad spectrum carbamate pesticide which is used in various farm practices in order to increase crop productivity. Due to its broad spectrum action and short half-life in the environment, it is also used as an insecticide, nematicide, and acaricide [6, 7]. Te presence of carbofuran is also reported in the nontarget mammalian systems such as maternal plasma, umbilical cord, and blood of African-American women and new born babies, respectively [8]. It has been shown to be generally accumulated in the fat depots and to exert ad- verse efects on diferent vital organs such as brain, liver, skeletal muscles, and heart [5, 6, 9]. Te neuronal injury of mammalian system due to carbofuran is due to the es- tablishment of oxidative stress. Rai et al. (2011) reported that