Alpha-lipoic acid protects against cadmium-induced hepatotoxicity via calcium signalling and gap junctional intercellular communication in rat hepatocytes

This study investigated the protective effect of alpha-lipoic acid (LA) on cadmium (Cd)-induced hepatotoxicity in BRL 3A rat liver cells. We demonstrated that LA ameliorated Cd-induced cellular injury in cell viability and nuclear fragmentation in BRL 3A cells. Furthermore, LA markedly ameliorated Cd-induced gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) inhibition and Cx43 mRNA expression decrease, as well as disassembly of gap junctions. The gap junction blocker carbenoxolone disodium (CBX) as well as LA protected healthy cells from Cd-exposed cells in Transwell co-culture system. LA also protected BRL 3A cells against Cd-induced elevation of the intracellular concentration of free calcium ([Ca2+]i). Pretreatment with a chelater of intracellular Ca2+ BAPTA-AM or chelater of extracellular Ca2+ EGTA attenuated Cd-induced cytotoxicity and GJIC inhibition. CBX exacerbated the decrease in cell viability and further elevated the increase in [Ca2+]i induced by Cd, whereas BAPTA-AM partly attenuated these phenomena, while EGTA had little effects. These results suggested that Cd-induced hepatotoxicity via GJIC inhibition and [Ca2+]i elevation, which originates mainly from intracellular stores. GJIC inhibition has dual effects: (i) it restricts release of Ca2+ from the cell, which exacerbates the [Ca2+]i elevation and cytotoxicity induced by Cd; and (ii) it protects healthy cells from their dangerous neighbors by blocking intercellular communication. Above all, our results indicated that LA partly prevented Cd-induced cytotoxicity via GJIC and calcium signaling in BRL 3A rat liver cells.