Role of Quercetin in Preventing Thioacetamide-Induced Liver Injury in Rats

Abstract

In hepatic toxicity induced in rats by two injections of thioacetamide (TAA, 350 mg/kg with an interval of 8 hr), the action of quercetin was investigated. After 96 hr, TAA administration resulted in hepatic necrosis, significant increases in serum transaminase activity, and increases in hepatic lipoperoxidation. Thioacetamide-induced hepatotoxicity also showed changes in antioxidant enzymes in the liver of rats, with alterations in p-ERK 1/2 (phosphorylated extracellular-signal related kinase 1/2) as well as an imbalance between proapototic protein Bax and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 expression. With administration of the flavonoid quercetin (50 mg/Kg i.p.) for four consecutive days following TAA, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity were close to normal values in rats. Histological findings suggested that quercetin had a preventive effect on TAA-induced hepatic necrosis. Quercetin treatment caused significant decreases in lipid peroxide levels in the TAA-treated rats, with some changes in antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Quercetin also inhibited the change of the p-ERK1/2 by TAA and significantly prevented the increase in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, thus preventing apoptosis. Findings indicate that quercetin may have a preventive effect on TAA-induced hepatotoxicity by modulating the oxidative stress parameters and apoptosis pathway.

Hepatoprotective Effect of Quercetin Pretreatment Against Paracetamol-Induced Liver Damage and Partial Hepatectomy in Rats

“…Vidhya and Indira 4 and Chen 5 describe a significant reduction in these enzymes with the use of quercetin in a rat model of ethanol-induced hepatic lesion. The same was observed by David et al 23 in an experimental model with thioacetamide. A recent work by El-Shafey et al 24 , in which oral quercetin was given to rats (15 mg/kg/day) during 21 days prior to a toxic dose of paracetamol, focused on many of the parameters assessed by us in the present study.…”

“…The duration of treatment and the administration route may interfere with the hepatoprotective effect of quercetin. Miltersteiner 3 , Bona et al 9 and David et al 23 found positive results with intraperitoneal administration of quercetin. Behling et al 6 and Bona et al 9 used periods of 28 days and six weeks respectively.…”

“…In this context, HP could be interpreted as structural damage. David et al 23 showed that four days of treatment with quercetin in rats intoxicated with thioacetamide promoted significant reduction in serum levels of AST and ALT, with successful avoidance of morphological alterations. The results obtained suggest that quercetin has a protective effect in rats with thioacetamideinduced lesions.…”

Hepatoprotective Effect of Eplerenone, A Selective Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist, Against Thioacetamide Induced Liver Injury in Rats

“…These findings were confirmed by histopthological examination. The findings of the present study are congruent to the previous studies [21,27,28,29]. Mechanisms participating in the development of TAA-induced liver injury have been intensively studied.…”

Therapeutic detoxification of quercetin against carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver injury in mice and its mechanism

“…Various reports show that quercetin has neuro-protection, anti-tumor, antiinflammation, anti-oxidant, and anti-diabetic effects (Chirumbolo, 2010;Kelly, 2011;Dajas, 2012). Furthermore, some reports demonstrate that quercetin can ameliorate various toxin-induced liver injuries, such as ethanol and acetaminophen (Vicente-Sánchez et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2010;Yousef et al, 2010;de David et al, 2011;Domitrović et al, 2012). However, the concrete-engaged signals in regulating the protection of quercetin against liver injuries are not very clear.…”