EJMS

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the potential hepatoprotective effect of green tea extract (GTE) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced liver injuries in male albino rats for 4 weeks. Animals were equally divided into 4 groups, the control (group I). Rats of group II orally received GTE (50 mg/kg/day) in distilled water, while animals of group III intraperitoneally received 1.5 mg/kg of 50% CCl4 in olive oil twice weekly. Rats of group IV (GTE + CCl4) orally received 50 mg/kg/day of GTE supplementation in combination with 1.5 mg/kg of 50% CCl4 in olive oil twice weekly for four weeks. Blood and liver samples were collected at the end of each week of the experiment. Serum total protein (TP), albumin, globulin, glucose, urea, creatinine, lipid profile, liver functions as well as hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities in combination with lipid peroxidation were investigated. Green tea extract attenuated the detrimental effects of CCl4 and improved most of the examined biomarkers as compared to CCl4 treated group. Serum lipid profiles as total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoproteins cholesterol (LDL-C) were improved in GTE with CCl4 treated group than the CCl4 group. Hepatic activity levels of reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were declined after CCl4 administration while they were remarkably improved with GTE administration. GTE with CCl4 treated group also showed lower levels of hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) than CCl4 exposed rats as a potential evidence on the reversal ability of GTE on lipid peroxidation. In conclusion, treating animals with aqueous extract of GT led to an improvement, in both biochemical and histopathological pictures against CCl4 injuries.