N-Acetyl cysteine alleviates carbon-tetrachloride induced acute liver injury in rats

Abstract

The liver is a vital organ that performs most of the body's metabolic and detoxifying functions. There are various exogenous and endogenous factors that might cause liver issues. Carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) is non-inflammable colorless organic compound and employed in a variety of industrial fields. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is one of the prospective pharmaceutical candidates possesses multiple clinical applications. The purpose of this study is to determine whether NAC has a protective effect in cases of liver injury or not. Thirty male albino rats were involved in the study, which lasted one month. They were categorized into three groups: control, liver injury group (0.5 ml/kg rat body weight (Bwt) CCL4 administered orally twice a week), and protective group (150 mg/kg Bwt NAC supplied orally). Serum lipid and protein profiles and liver enzymes activities were evaluated. Antioxidant, oxidative stress, and anti-inflammatory parameters were also assessed. Additionally, hepatic tissue was subjected to a histopathological investigation. The biochemical and histopathological results revealed dramatic improvement of studied parameters in NAC protective group comparing to liver injury one. Hence, we can conclude that, NAC shown a great potential in attenuating liver injury induced by CCL4 via refinement tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6 and reduced glutathione pathway.