Chromium is a micronutrient which has found frequent use as supplements during pregnancy and could have a role in altering the antioxidant status in the brain. The present study was undertaken to estimate chromium levels in the brain, antioxidant enzyme activity with their gene expression, and learning and memory parameters on F1 and F2 generation mice when the F0 was exposed to chromium. The chromium levels in the brain were estimated using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The enzyme activity of glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT) was estimated and their gene expression was evaluated using RT-PCR. The spatial memory was tested using Morris water maze. The learning and recall memory was tested using the step down latency paradigm. The chromium levels were significantly raised in animals treated with Cr per se in F1 generation and quercetin cotreatment reduced the Cr levels in brain significantly. The enzyme activity of GST was significantly less in Cr-treated animals of both generations and this effect was significantly reversed on cotreatment with quercetin. The gene expression of GST matched the enzyme activity. However, catalase activity did not show significant decrease with Cr but cotreatment with quercetin resulted in significant decrease compared with control and this effect was not matched by its gene expression. We observed no significant change in learning and memory parameters in both generations following Cr exposure. Thus, this study demonstrates that chromium exposure in gestation causes changes in enzyme activity especially GST and this change was matched by change in gene expression in GST but not CAT. There was no effect on memory at the given dose.

铬是一种微量营养素，在怀孕期间经常用作补充剂，可能有助于改变大脑中的抗氧化状态。本研究旨在评估 F0 暴露于铬时 F1 和 F2 代小鼠大脑中的铬水平、抗氧化酶活性及其基因表达以及学习和记忆参数。使用原子吸收分光光度计估计大脑中的铬含量。估计谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶(GST) 和过氧化氢酶(CAT) 的酶活性，并使用RT-PCR 评估它们的基因表达。使用莫里斯水迷宫测试空间记忆。使用逐步降低延迟范例测试学习和回忆记忆。在 F1 代中用 Cr 本身处理的动物的铬水平显着升高，而槲皮素联合处理显着降低了大脑中的 Cr 水平。GST 的酶活性在两代 Cr 处理的动物中都显着降低，而这种影响在与槲皮素共同处理时显着逆转。GST的基因表达与酶活性相匹配。然而，过氧化氢酶活性并未随着 Cr 显示出显着降低，但与对照相比，槲皮素共同处理导致显着降低，并且这种效应与其基因表达不匹配。我们观察到铬暴露后两代人的学习和记忆参数没有显着变化。因此，这项研究表明，妊娠期铬暴露会导致酶活性的变化，尤其是 GST，并且这种变化与 GST 中基因表达的变化相匹配，但与 CAT 无关。在给定剂量下对记忆没有影响。