Protective effects of ascorbic acid on hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress caused by carbon tetrachloride in the liver of Wistar rats

Abstract

This study was planned to investigate the protective effect of l(+)-ascorbic acid (Vit C) on CCl(4)-induced hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress in the liver of Wistar rats (Rattus Norvegicus, strain Wistar). Twenty-four adult male Wistar rats were fed with standard rat chow diet for 10 days and randomly were divided into four groups of six each as follows: (1) control, (2) CCl(4), (3) "CCl(4) + Vit C", (4) Vit C groups. CCl(4) was applied to rats belonging to CCl(4) and "CCl(4) + Vit C" groups subcutaneously at 1 mg kg(-1) dose CCl(4) for 3 days. Vit C applied to "CCl(4) + Vit C" and "Vit C" group rats intraperitoneally at 300 mg kg(-1) dose for 3 days. All rats were sacrificed and livers were quickly removed on the fourth day of the experiment. MDA, total glutathione (T.GSH) levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activities were measured in the liver of all groups of rats and also serum alanine amino transferase (ALT) and aspartate amino transferase (AST) activities were detected to determine liver functions in all groups of rats. Histopathological changes were evaluated by light and transmission electron microscopes. In "CCl(4) + Vit C" group, MDA level was significantly decreased (p < 0.05) and SOD, CAT, GSH-PX activities were significantly increased (p < 0.005, 0.01, 0.05) respectively, T.GSH level was significantly increased (p < 0.005) and serum ALT and AST activities were significantly decreased (p < 0.01, 0.05), respectively, when compared with CCl(4) group. These results show that Vit C has a highly protective effect on hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress caused by CCl(4).

Effect of Apitherapy Formulations against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Toxicity in Wistar Rats after Three Weeks of Treatment

“…The results of the present experiment are in agreement with results obtained in other experimental studies [21][22][23][24]. For example, the study of Cemek et al demonstrates that the administration of CCl 4 leads to severe acute liver affection in rats, revealed by significant increase of AST and ALT serum levels.…”

Anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatocyte damage in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

“…Elevation in levels of GOT, GPT and LDH in response to CCl 4 is the signs of liver injury because these enzymes are located in the cytoplasm and escape out into the circulation when the cells are attacked [22,23]. In our study, serious hepatocyte injury was observed after exposed to 8 mM CCl 4 as shown by the increases of GOT, GPT and LDH level in the supernatant.…”

Histological Study of the Effects of Olanzapine on the Liver of Adult Male Albino Rat with and without Vitamin C

“…At the level of cellular structure vitamin C showed improvement in mitochondrial structure and function. These improvements were mainly via antioxidative role of ascorbic acid [43,44] .…”