Mohammed Al-Zharani¹, Eman Almuqri¹, Mohammed Mubarak^1,, Hassan Rudayni¹, Nada Aljarba², Khadijah Yaseen³, Shaikha A. Albatli¹, Saad Alkahtani³, Fahd A. Nasr¹, Amin A. Al-Doaiss⁴, Mohammed S. Al-eissa¹

Rosmarinic acid exists prominently in plant species in the Boraginaceae and Lamiaceae families. It is a natural bioactive polyphenolic compound with a wide range of bioactivities. The present study aimed to evaluate the in vivo antioxidant properties of rosmarinic acid and to investigate the effectiveness of exogenous rosmarinic acid in mitigating cadmium-induced oxidative stress. The experimental rats were allotted into four groups (n=20), designated as untreated control, rosmarinic acid-treated, cadmium-exposed, and cadmium-rosmarinic acid groups. The haematological and biochemical assays were performed to achieve the study's aim. Both the haematological and biochemical profiles of cadmium-exposed rats (Group 3) manifested significant alterations, including increments and decrements, compared to that of untreated control. Concerning the biochemical profile (serum profile), Group 2 animals (rosmarinic acid-treated) demonstrated no significant changes compared to the untreated control. Rats in Group 4 (cadmium-exposed and Rosmarinic acid-accessed) exhibited increased levels of total proteins, a significant increase in the levels of antioxidant markers including total thiols, glutathione, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and catalase, and a significant decrease in the levels of blood cadmium, ALP, ALT, AST, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), urea, bilirubin, and oxidation markers (H2O2, and malondialdehyde MDA) compared to the animals exposed to cadmium (Group 3). Tissue homogenates of liver and kidney prepared from Group 3 animals demonstrated parallel results to that revealed by serum biochemical analysis. It was concluded that rosmarinic acid possesses effective antioxidant properties that significantly help attenuate the oxidative stress induced by cadmium.

Rosmarinic acid, cadmium toxicity, oxidative stress, antioxidant, biochemical profile