Anti-Oxidative Stress of Two Egyptian Crustacean Extracts in Rat : Curative Effects of the Egyptian Freshwater Procambarus clarkii and Marine Erugosquilla massavensis Extracts

Antioxidants or free radical scavengers are very important in protecting the living cells against any damage induced by free radicals which are produced continuously in cells either during phagocytosis or accidentally as by-product metabolites. Each biological system has certain antioxidant mechanisms against the aggregations of such free radicals. Products from freshwater and marine sources have recently become attractive as nutraceutical and functional foods as well as a source material for the development of drugs and specific health foods. Since, the red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) and Erugosquilla massavensis, (Koossmann,1880) are rich in taurine and other sulphur containing amino acid, we aim to throw the light for the first time in Egypt on their antioxidant activity and subsequently their curative effect against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity as well as erythrocytes toxicity in rats.