Abstract Cinnamon is commonly used as a spice and has also been broadly employed in the treatment and prevention of disease. Cadmium is a heavy metal of considerable toxicity with destructive impact on most organ systems and in some cases it can cause deaths annually. The study was designed to evaluate the impact of low and high intake of cinnamon against cadmium-induced liver and brain toxicity in rats. Adult male albino rats were randomly classified into six groups. Group I control rats received distilled water for 45 days. Group II and III were given daily oral administration of cinnamon aqueous extract as 20 mg/kg (Cin-20) and 120 mg/kg (Cin-120), respectively. Group IV received 2 mg/kg CdCl2, once daily for 45 consecutive days. Group V and VI received CdCl2+Cin-20 and CdCl2+Cin-120, respectively. The evaluation of the effects of both doses of cinnamon was measured using open field test, cerebral neurotransmitters, GABA, and choline esterase. Cerebral and hepatic oxidative biomarkers, myeloproxidase activity, liver functional tests, lysosomal enzymes, as well as histopathological examination of liver, cerebral cortex, and hippocampus were also estimated. The significantly disturbed brain-liver biomarkers by cadmium toxicity were restored to nearly normal values by administration of cin-20. While, cin-120 showed less improvement in some parameters. Also, the histopathological effect of cadmium on brain and liver was also markedly overturned by co-administration of cin-20. Our findings concluded that cinnamon aqueous extracts at the low dose rather than high dose possessed protective activity against cadmium induced hepatic-cerebral toxicity in rats.
Keyword: Cadmiumm, Cinnamon, Neurotoxicity, Neurotransmitters, Cortex and hippocampus, Hepatotoxicity.