Abstract
Fluoride intoxication has been shown to produce diverse deleterious metabolic alterations within the cell. To determine the effects of sodium fluoride (NaF) treatment on malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and on the activity of antioxidant enzymes in rat erythrocytes, Male Wistar rats were treated with 50 ppm of NaF or were untreated as controls. Erythrocytes were obtained from rats sacrificed weekly for up to eight weeks and the concentration of MDA in erythrocyte membrane was determined. In addition, the activity of the enzymes superoxide, dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase were determined. Treatment with NaF produces an increase in the concentration of malondialdehyde in the erythrocyte membrane only after the eight weeks of treatment. On the other hand, antioxidant enzyme activity was observed to increase after the fourth week of NaF treatment. In conclusion, intake of NaF produces alterations in the erythrocyte of the male rat, which indicates induction of oxidative stress.