This study was designed to determine the effects of olive oil and thyme powder on liver functions and oxidative stress of cirrhotic rats. Thirty-five male rats were divided into two main groups: the negative control group (n=7) and fed on a basal diet. The second group (n= 27) was intraperitoneally injected with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) for six weeks to induce liver cirrhosis, then divided into four sub-groups; first group (group 2) was positive control; groups (3 and 4) were fed on a basal diet supplemented with olive oil (5%) and thyme powder (10%), respectively. The last group (group 5) was fed on a basal diet supplemented with a mixture of olive oil (5%) and thyme powder (10%). The results indicated that olive oil, thyme, and their mixture significantly increased (P<0.05) the level of IgM, IgG, albumin, and globulin in cirrhotic rats compared to the positive control group. Also, the level of antioxidant indicators (glutathione, GSH, and superoxide dismutase, SOD) were significantly (P<0.05) increased, while the level of malonaldehyde (MDA) was significantly decreased. Furthermore, liver functions (ALT, AST, ALP, and T.bilirubin) of cirrhotic rats were significantly (P<0.05) improved in treated groups. The synergistic protection effect was recorded for the mixture group (i.e., olive oil and thyme powder), which could be attributed to their high total phenolic content and high antioxidant activity. It could be concluded that olive oil and thyme powder could be promising foods for controlling liver cirrhosis.
Costus igneus is a promising medicinal plant due to the presence of flavonoids and phenolic compounds as major contents of its constituents. This study was aimed to investigate the hepatoprotective effects of oral administration of Costus igneus leaves alcoholic extract (CLAE) against CCl 4 -induced liver injury in rats. Forty two adult male Wistar rats were divided into six equal groups (7 for each) as follows: group(1): negative control group, group (2): positive control (CCl 4 ) group injected subcutaneously by a single dose of CCL 4 (2 ml/kg BW) at the last day of the experiment, group (3): rats treated with standard drug Silymarin (200 mg/kg BW) once daily for 4 weeks prior a single subcutaneous injection of CCL 4 (2 ml/kg BW.) and groups (4, 5 and 6) were orally administered CLAE at doses of (150, 300 and 600 mg/kg BW) once daily for 4 weeks prior a single subcutaneous injection of CCL 4 (2 ml/kg BW.) to induce experimental hepatotoxicity. The results showed that oral administration of CLAE in a concentrations of 600 mg/kg BW to rats for 4 weeks prior inducing hepatotoxicity by CCl 4 significantly improved total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), lipoprotein fractions, decreased the elevated serum levels of liver enzymes (alanine aminotransferase, ALT, aspartate aminotransferase, AST, alkaline phosphatase, ALP, total bilirubin and increased serum total protein when compared to the control positive group. Oxidative stress markers as antioxidant activity enzymatic (glutathione peroxidase, GPx, superoxide dismutase, SOD, catalase, CAT and nonenzymatic glutathione, GSH), also malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly improved as compared to the control positive group. Histopathological examination of liver section of rats orally given CLAE prior inducing hepatotoxicity by CCl 4 showed alleviation of histological degeneration changes in protected groups compared to control positive group. This study concluded that, CLAE has high hypolipidemic, hepatoprotective effect and antioxidant effects in CCl 4 -intoxicated rats. Hepatoprotective effect of CLAE could be due to presence of many phenolic compounds detected in this study.