Protective effect of artichoke leaf extract against paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

Figures & data

Table 1. Effect of artichoke leaf extract (ALE) on paracetamol-induced alterations of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities in rats.

Groups	ALT (U/ml)	AST (U/ml)
Group I	157.5 ± 4.6	340.0 ± 9.6
Group II	395.5 ± 5.4^a	503.3 ± 10^a
Group III	119.7 ± 8.3^a,b	335.7 ± 6.6^b
Group IV	195.2 ± 8.5^a,b,c	391.3 ± 13.7^a,b,c
Group V	171.7 ± 13.6^b,c	335.3 ± 12.9^b,d

Group I: treated with vehicle; group II: treated with saline + 10% Tween 80 orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); group III: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d; group IV: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); group V: treated with 100 mg/kg of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally). Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 10) in each group.

^aSignificantly different from group I at p < 0.05.

^bSignificantly different from group II at p < 0.001.

^cSignificantly different from group III at p << 0.05.

^dSignificantly different from group IV at p < 0.05.

Table 2. Effect of artichoke leaf extract (ALE) on paracetamol-induced alterations of lipid peroxidation (MDA), SOD activity and NO level measured in rats livers.

Groups	MDA (µM/100 mg tissue)	NO (mmol/gm tissue)	SOD (U/100 mg protein)
Group I	3.97 ± 0.10	92.04 ± 0.82	3.83 ± 0.09
Group II	8.41 ± 0.26^a	176.9 ± 4.26^a	2.00 ± 0.13^a
Group III	3.42 ± 0.08^b	86.41 ± 1.61^b	6.10 ± 0.17^a,b
Group IV	5.57 ± 0.16^a,b,c	130.9 ± 2.61^a,b,c	3.01 ± 0.07^a,b,c
Group V	6.83 ± 0.13^a,b,c,d	148.7 ± 1.99^a,b,c,d	2.43 ± 0.07^a,c,d

Group I: treated with vehicle; group II: treated with saline + 10% Tween 80 orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); group III: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d; group IV: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); group V: treated with 100 mg/kg of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally). Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 10) in each group. MDA, malondialdehyde; NO, nitric oxide; SOD, superoxide dismutase.

^aSignificantly different from group I at p < 0.001.

^bSignificantly different from group II at p < 0.001.

^cSignificantly different from group III at p < 0.001.

^dSignificantly different from group IV at p < 0.05.

Figure 1. Effect of artichoke leaf extract (ALE) on paracetamol-induced alterations of reduced glutathione (GSH) (A), glutathione reductase (GR) (B), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) (C) measured in rats livers. Group I: treated with vehicle; group II: treated with saline + 10% Tween 80 orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); group III: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d; group IV: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); group V: treated with 100 mg/kg of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally). Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 10) in each group. (a) Significantly different from group I at p < 0.001. (b) Significantly different from group II at p < 0.05. (c) Significantly different from group III at p < 0.001. (d) Significantly different from group IV at p < 0.05.

Figure 2. Effect of artichoke leaf extract (ALE) on paracetamol-induced DNA damage assessed by the comet assay in rats livers. Group I: treated with vehicle; group II: treated with saline + 10% Tween 80 orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); group III: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d; group IV: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); group V: treated with 100 mg/kg of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally). Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 6) in each group. (a) Significantly different from group I at p < 0.05. (b) Significantly different from group II at p < 0.05. (c) Significantly different from group III at p < 0.05. (d) Significantly different from group IV at p < 0.01.

Figure 3. Hematoxilin- and eosin-stained sections showing the effect of artichoke leaf extract (ALE) on histological liver changes induced by paracetamol. Original magnification, ×40. (A) Group I: treated with vehicle; (B) group II: treated with saline + 10% Tween 80 orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); (C) group III: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d; (D) group IV: treated with 1.5 g/kg of ALE orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally); (E) group V: treated with 100 mg/kg of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) orally for 14 d followed by paracetamol (2 g/kg, orally). cv, central vein; h, hepatocytes; d, degeneration; n, necrosis; s, sinusoids.