The effect of binary mixture of metals (Cd + As, Cd + Pb and As + Pb) and B[a]P + metals (B[a]P + As, B[a]P + Cd and B[a]P + Pb) on cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells are presented in Table 4 and Figures 1 to 6.
Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd) or lead (Pb) either alone (main effect) or binary combinations, Cd + As, Cd + Pb and As + Pb (interaction effect) caused significant cytotoxicity to HepG2 cells (Table 1, Fig. 1 …show more content…
All the three metals significantly increased the total GSH level compared to vehicle control. Arsenic treatment resulted in a dose dependent increase in the total GSH level. In the case of Cd and Pb, decrease in the total GSH level was observed at higher concentrations compared to lower concentrations (Figure 9).
Metal mixtures decreased the total GSH level compared to vehicle control (Fig. 9). At the lower combinations, As + Cd (As + Cd, 50 + 0.1 µM) and Cd + Pb (1 + 1.5 µM) mixtures, minimal increase in the total GSH level was observed and the remaining combinations of As + Cd and Cd + Pb decreased the total GSH level. The binary mixtures of As + Pb (50 + 20 µM) and Cd + Pb (1+ 20 µM) caused a significant reduction of 51 and 34% in the total GSH level compared to As or Cd alone. Cadmium with As (As + Cd, 50 + 1 µM) caused significant reduction of 36% in the total GSH level compared to As alone (Figure