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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Early Access

Health impact of heavy metals stressed hydroponically grown garden lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) on rat models

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.5664
Submitted
9 October 2024
Published
01-07-2025
Versions

Abstract

In this study, in vivo pharmacological effects of plant extracts of hydroponically grown lettuce (HyL), compared with heavy metals (HMs) stressed hydroponically grown plants (HyCd, HyCr and HyPb) were studied. Lactuca sativa L. (lettuce) was grown hydroponically. The highest salt tolerance was estimated against 0.256 mM of Cd, Cr and Pb, respectively. So, we selected plants from 0.256 mM salt stress and extracts were prepared for in vivo pharmacological studies and data was analyzed statistically using ANOVA. Heavy metal stressed plants of HyCd, HyCr and HyPb showed elevated levels of glucose on the 21st day of the experiment, being as low as 355 mg/dl, 364 mg/dl and 210 mg/dl, respectively. In the instance of the liver, kidney and serum biomarkers; it was seen that the levels were restored to normal in HyL, in comparison to heavy metal stress groups (p<0.05). The histopathological studies showed normal distribution and morphology of cells, while in metal-induced plan extracts deformed, submerged and distorted morphology was noted, representing toxicity of heavy metals. We evaluated the antioxidant markers of different organs, which showed variation from normal control values, indicating a less protective effect of metal on antioxidant profiles. The administration of HyL treatment resulted in increased levels of serotonin (0.127 µg/mg of tissue) and dopamine (0.089 µg/mg of tissue) in HPLC quantification. Among heavy metals, HyPb showed minor levels of neurotransmitters (Dopamine; 0.024 and Serotonin; 0.236 µg/mg of tissue) while these neurotransmitters were not detected in the case of HyCd, HyCr. Overall, HyPb showed comparatively higher activity than HyCd and HyCr (p < 0.05). Lactuca sativa possesses good HMs accumulation potential; still, HMs had significant effects on the histology and antioxidant profiles in rat models.

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