PINEAPPLE AND SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANTS AS POTENTIAL NATURAL INTERVENTIONS AGAINST ARSENIC TOXICITY: MECHANISMS AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
Arsenic toxicity is associated with oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, inflammatory signalling as well as injury to hepatic, neural, renal and cardiovascular tissues. Medicinal plants are potentially able to abrogate arsenic toxicity based on their antioxidant, metal-chelating, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic potentials, and organoprotective properties. These medicinal plants including Ananas comosus, Allium sativum, Terminalia arjuna, Camellia sinensis contain diverse phytochemicals that provide a plausible biochemical basis for their abrogative effects on arsenic toxicity. This review evaluates the mechanistic basis of arsenic-induced systemic toxicity and critically examines the potential of selected medicinal plants and phytochemicals against arsenic toxicity and predicts Ananas comosus as a potential dietary or nutraceutical adjunct against arsenic toxicity due to the presence of bromelain, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, carotenoids and vitamin C with reported antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Allium sativum has presented anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective properties following arsenic exposure. Anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and cardio-protective effects are reported for Camellia sinensis following arsenic exposure. Terminalia arjuna abrogated arsenic-induced liver and testicular injury. Phytochemicals such as allicin, ellagic acid, melatonin, arjunolic acid, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, silibinin, quercetin, and silymarin have been reported to abrogate arsenic-induced systemic toxicity. Therefore, it is suggested that Pineapple (Ananas comosus) and its phytochemicals may abrogate arsenic toxicity by eliciting other effects distinct from reducing oxidative injury, supporting endogenous antioxidant systems and modulating inflammatory pathways following direct arsenic-pineapple experiments. Thus, pineapple is a promising candidate for further investigation as an adjunctive food-based intervention by conducting standardized dose-response studies, toxicological assessment, and pharmacokinetic characterization.
Keywords: Ananas comosus, Arsenic toxicity, Medicinal plants, Multi-organ toxicity, Organ protection, Phytochemicals
*Correspondence: adefuye.adefemi@oouagoiwoye.edu.ng, +2348138595986
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