In Vivo Effects of Naringenin and Lead on Rat Erythrocyte Carbonic Anhydrase Enzyme

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzyme catalyses the reversible reactions of CO with water and takes part in metabolically important events such as systemic acid-base regulation and respiration. In this study, effects of lead, which is a heavy metal and to which living beings are exposed by different ways, with naringenin, a flavanone, were investigated. For this purpose, four different rat groups were established and one of them was chosen as the control group. The other three groups were given lead, naringenin and lead+naringenin substances to analyze the changes in the CA enzyme of rat erythrocytes. The research findings showed that the enzyme activity in the control group was higher than that in the other groups. The naringenin group showed the highest inhibition effect, while the lead group showed the lowest inhibition. Therefore, it can be said that naringenin is a strong inhibitor of the CA enzyme.