Ochratoxin-induced toxicity, oxidative stress and apoptosis ameliorated by quercetin – Modulation by Nrf2

Ochratoxin (OTA) is one of the most abundant food contaminating mycotoxins and is commonly present in the food chain. Many of the effects associated with OTA, appear to be mediated through oxidative stress. Although the toxicity of OTA is fairly well characterized, antidotes for alleviating the toxicity are sparsely reported. Dietary antioxidants have gained much importance in the recent years for their antioxidative and therapeutic properties. In the present study the therapeutic strategy was directed towards use of quercetin, a dietary antioxidant to combat OTA-induced toxicity in Vero cell line. Our results demonstrate that quercetin pre-treatment suppressed OTA-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative stress. It modulated OTA-induced alteration on the antioxidant defence through activation of Nrf2 pathway. Morphological studies by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cell cycle analysis indicated that quercetin prevented OTA-induced apoptosis. It also inhibited the activation of caspase cascade that leads to DNA fragmentation. Quercetin also exhibited antigenotoxic potential by attenuating OTA-induced DNA damage and micronucleus (MN) formation. The results of the study demonstrate for the first time that quercetin pre-treatment prevents OTA-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in Vero cell line.