Exposure to Fluoride induces apoptosis in liver of ducks by regulating Cyt-C/Caspase 3/9 signaling pathway

Fluorine being a well-known and essential element for normal physiological functions of tissues of different organisms is frequently used for growth and development of body. The mechanisms of adverse and injurious impacts of fluoride are not clear and still are under debate. Therefore, this study was executed to ascertain the potential mechanisms of sodium fluoride in liver tissues of ducks. For this purpose, a total of 14 ducks were randomly divided and kept in two groups including control group and sodium fluoride treated group. The ducks in control group were fed with normal diet while the ducks in other group were exposed to sodium fluoride (750 mg/kg) for 28 days. The results showed that exposure to sodium fluoride induced deleterious effects in different liver tissues of ducks. The results indicated that mRNA levels of Cas-3, Cas-9, p53, Apaf-1, Bax and Cyt-c were increased in treated ducks with significantly higher mRNA level of Cas-9 and lower levels of the mRNA level of Bcl-2 as compared to untreated control group (P < 0.01). The results showed that protein expression levels of Bax and p53 were increased while protein expression level of Bcl-2 was reduced in treated ducks. No difference was observed in protein expression level of Cas-3 between treated and untreated ducks. The results of this study suggest that sodium fluoride damages the normal structure of liver and induces abnormal process of apoptosis in hepatocyte, which provide a new idea for elucidating the mechanisms of sodium fluoride induced hepatotoxicity in ducks. • Long-term exposure NaF induced hepatotoxicity in ducks. • NaF exposure caused liver granule and vacuolar degeneration observed by histological analysis. • The mechanism of NaF exposure on hepatotoxicity involving activating autophagy and apoptosis. • Cyt-C/Caspase 3/9 signaling pathway activation target cell death.