Retraction notice to "Cadmium induced cardiac oxidative stress in rats and its attenuation by GSP through the activation of Nrf2 signaling pathway" [Chem. Biol. Interact. 242C (2015) 179-193].

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief. Western Blots from Figs. 8B and 9A appear similar to Blots from Fig. 4A of the article previously published by the authors in Biochemistry and Cell Biology 93 (2015) 210-226 https://doi.org/10.1139/bcb-2014-0114 and Figs. 12 and 14 of the article previously published by the corresponding author et al. in Biomedicine & Preventive Nutrition 4 (2014) 561-577 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bionut.2014.08.003, although the Western Blots purportedly described different samples. Also, sections within the panels from Figs. 10 and 11D appear unusually similar to each other. The explanation provided by the corresponding author was not satisfactory and the Editor decided to retract the article.

Grape seed proanthocyanidins protects against cadmium induced oxidative pancreatitis in rats by attenuating oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis via Nrf-2/HO-1 signaling.

The present study has been designed and carried out to explore the role of grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSP) in the pancreas of cadmium (Cd)-induced cellular oxidative stress-mediated toxicity in rats. Four groups of healthy rats were given oral doses of Cd (5-mg/kg BW) and to identify the possible mechanism of action of GSP 100-mg/kg BW was selected and was given 90 min before Cd intoxication. The causative molecular and cellular mechanism of Cd was determined using various biochemical assays, histology, western blotting and ELISA. Cd intoxication revealed increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL1ß and IFN-γ), reduced levels of cellular defense proteins (Nrf-2 and HO-1) and glucose transporter (GLUT-2 and GLUT-4) along with the enhanced levels of signaling molecules of apoptosis (cleaved Caspase-12/9/8/3) in the pancreas of Cd-intoxicated rats. Results suggested that the treatment with GSP reduced blood glucose level, increased plasma insulin and mitigated oxidative stress-related markers. GSP protects pancreatic tissue by attenuated inflammatory responses and inhibited apoptosis. This uniqueness and absence of any detectable adverse effect of GSP proposes the possibility of using it as an effective protector in the oxidative stress-mediated pancreatic dysfunction in rats.

Hepatoprotective effect of grape seed proanthocyanidins on Cadmium-induced hepatic injury in rats: Possible involvement of mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation and apoptosis.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the possible ameliorative role of grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSP) against Cadmium (Cd) induced hepatic inflammation, apoptosis and hepatic mitochondrial toxicity in rats. Male Wistar rats were distributed in four experimental groups: control, GSP, Cd and Cd + GSP. Exposure to a hepatotoxic dose of Cd (5 mg/kg BW) caused liver damage, coupled with enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, increased inflammation and apoptosis in liver with increased DNA damage in hepatocytes of rats. Mitochondria were isolated from the hepatic tissues of rats from each group. Our results showed significant decrease in the tri-carboxylic acid cycle enzymes, increased mitochondrial swelling, inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase activity and complex I-III, II-III and IV mediated electron transfer, decreased mitochondrial ATPases, a reduction in calcium content and mitochondrial oxygen consumption in Cd treated rats. All these molecular changes caused by Cd were alleviated by the pre-supplementation with GSP (100 mg/kg BW). The ultra structural changes in the liver also support our findings. From our results, it is clearly indicated that the free radical scavenging, metal chelating and antioxidant potentials of GSP might be the possible reason, responsible for the rescue action against Cd induced mitochondrial damage in the liver of rats.

Cadmium induced cardiac oxidative stress in rats and its attenuation by GSP through the activation of Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the toxic heavy metals in the environment, which induces oxidative stress, dyslipidemia and membrane disturbances in heart. The present study was designed to evaluate the role of grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSP) against Cd induced oxidative stress mediated cardio-toxicity in rats. In this study, male Wistar rats were treated with Cd as cadmium chloride (CdCl2, 5 mg/ kg bw, PO) and pre-administered with GSP (100 mg/kg bw, PO) 90 min before the Cd intoxication for 4 weeks. Our results demonstrate a significant increase in the levels of cardiac troponins T and I (cTnT & I), cardiac serum markers, lipid peroxidative markers and plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), phospholipids (PL) and free fatty acids (FFA). Cd induced oxidative stress decreased the levels of mitochondrial Krebs cycle enzymes as well as the respiratory chain enzyme activities and altered the levels of cardiac enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. The inflammatory (NF-kB, NO, TNF-α, IL-6), apoptotic markers (caspase 3, cytochrome C, Bax, Bcl-2), membrane bound ATPases and antioxidant Nrf2 (HO-1, keap1) markers were also measured in the control and experimental rats. All these alterations caused by Cd could be lessened by the pre-supplementation of GSP. The pre-administration of GSP significantly increased the activities of mitochondrial and respiratory chain enzymes, reduced the levels of cardio-oxidative stress markers in Cd-treated rats, which examines the stress stabilizing action of GSP. GSP also prevented the cytochrome C release, inhibited the caspase activation and maintained the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax by its free radical scavenging ability. Nrf2 expression was transiently increased while the impaired cardiac markers were restored near to their basal levels by the pre-treatment with GSP in Cd intoxicated rats. The cardioprotective nature of the GSP was further fortified by our light microscopic and ultra structural findings. Overall, our results suggest that GSP has an ability to inhibit the membrane disturbances in cardiomyocytes, apoptotic pathway, inflammation and activate the Nrf2 expression through which it recuperated the Cd induced oxidative stress mediated cardiac dysfunction.

Grape seed proanthocyanidins ameliorates cadmium-induced renal injury and oxidative stress in experimental rats through the up-regulation of nuclear related factor 2 and antioxidant responsive elements.

Cadmium (Cd) preferentially accumulates in the kidney, the major target for Cd-related toxicity. Cd-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been considered crucial mediators for renal injury. The biologically significant ionic form of cadmium (Cd(+)) binds to many bio-molecules, and these interactions underlie the toxicity mechanisms of Cd. The present study was hypothesized to explore the protective effect of grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSP) on Cd-induced renal toxicity and to elucidate the potential mechanism. Male Wistar rats were treated with Cd as cadmium chloride (CdCl2, 5 mg·kg(-1) bw, orally) and orally pre-administered with GSP (100 mg·kg(-1) bw) 90 min before Cd intoxication for 4 weeks to evaluate renal damage of Cd and antioxidant potential of GSP. Serum renal function parameters (blood urea nitrogen and creatinine) levels in serum and urine, renal oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation, enzymatic, and non-enzymatic antioxidants), inflammatory (NF-κB p65, NO, TNF-α, IL-6), apoptotic (caspase-3, caspase-9, Bax, Bcl-2), membrane bound ATPases, and Nrf2 (HO-1, keap1, γ-GCS, and µ-GST) markers were evaluated in Cd-treated rats. Pretreatment with GSP revealed a significant improvement in renal oxidative stress markers in kidneys of Cd-treated rats. In addition, GSP treatment decreases the amount of iNOS, NF-κB, TNF-α, caspase-3, and Bax and increases the levels Bcl-2 protein expression. Similarly, mRNA and protein analyses substantiated that GSP treatment notably normalizes the renal expression of Nrf2/Keap1 and its downstream regulatory proteins in the Cd-treated rats. Histopathological and ultra-structural observations also demonstrated that GSP effectively protects the kidney from Cd-induced oxidative damage. These findings suggest that GSP ameliorates renal dysfunction and oxidative stress through the activation of Nrf2 pathway in Cd-intoxicated rats.