Almond oil improves the levels of some trace elements and antioxidant status in mice exposed to oxidative stress

Objectives: To evaluate the concentrations of some trace elements and the antioxidant status in male mice exposedto oxidative stress by carbon tetrachloride and then treated by either almond oil or vitamin C.Methods: The animal study was conducted in January 2020 at the College of Nursing of the University of Thi-Qar andthe Kut Technical Institute, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq, and comprised adult male mice. They weredivided randomly into four equal groups and treated for 21 days. Mice in group I received sunflower oil 1ml per mice,mice in group II were injected 0.3% carbon tetrachloride intraperitonially, mice in group III received 0.3% carbontetrachloride plus oral intubation of vitamin C 300mg/kg body weight daily, and mice in group IV were intubated with 2.26g/kg body weight of almond oil plus 0.3% carbon tetrachloride daily. Serum and liver homogenate were used tomeasure the levels of trace elements and the antioxidant status. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20.Results: There were 24 mice; 6(25%) in each on the 4 groups. Mice in group II showed a significant decrease in zinc,magnesium and phosphorus levels, and significant elevation in calcium levels (p<0.05). Mice in groups III and IVshowed a significant difference in trace elements compared to group II (p<0.05). Almond oil enhanced the antioxidantstatus and was more active than vitamin C (p<0.05).Conclusions: Almond oil was found to have beneficial and pharmacological effects against oxidative stress.Keywords: Carbon tetrachloride, Antioxidants, Prunus dulcis, Ascorbic acid, Phosphorus, Fatty liver, Zinc, Vitamins,Intubation, Intratracheal.