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The aim of present study was to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of fish oil (FSO) on
the oxidative stress of liver tissue in c57bl/6 mice. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances
(TBARS), xanthine oxidase (XO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase
(GSH-PX) were studied in mice after oral gavage of 4, 8 or 16 mg/ kg body weight (bw.) FSO (rich
in omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) for 4 weeks and the levels
were compared to untreated control mice. The mice in the treated group had significantly higher
SOD activity (P<0.01), GSH (P<0.01), catalase (P<0.01) and decreased TBARS levels (P< 0.01)
with respect to control mice whereas XO activities were not observed to be significantly different
between the groups. FSO supplementation also caused a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in
inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, and IL-1β) and increase in the anti-inflammatory ones (IL-10) at a
dosage of 16 mg/kg bw.
Thus, it can be concluded that dietary supplementation with FSO may enhance resistance to
oxidative stress and validate the notion that FSO is an effective dietary supplement for management
of various oxidative stress induced diseases.
Key words: Catalase, fish oil, Glutathione reductase, polyunsaturated fatty acids, reactive oxygen species, Superoxide dismutase.