Abstract

PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF ROSEMARY ON LIVER CIRRHOSIS INDUCED EXPERIMENTALLY IN RATS

Mohammed R. Ragab, Omnia M. Abdelhamid, Alshaimaa M. Said* and Rania A. A. Farrag

ABSTRACT

Liver cirrhosis, the terminal stage of various chronic liver diseases, affects hundreds of millions of patients worldwide. This study was conducted to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of rosemary ethanolic extract on thioacetamide (TAA) induced liver cirrhosis. Sixty rats used in this study were divided into three groups: control group, TAA group received intraperitoneal (i.p) injection of TAA twice weekly at dose (200mg/kg) for 12 weeks, rosemary protective group received (i.p) injection of TAA twice weekly at dose (200mg/kg) and oral daily dose of rosemary ethanolic extract (200 mg/kg) for 12 weeks. The results revealed that injection of TAA increased liver enzymes. Additionally, concentration of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and Nuclear Factor Kappa (NF-κβ) increased indicating a significant inflammatory response. Obvious state of oxidative stress in liver as evidenced by elevated malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced total antioxidant capacity (TAC). On the other hand, protection with rosemary ethanolic extract exhibited a significant improvement in liver function, antioxidant capacities and inflammatory status of liver. It can be concluded that rosemary ethanolic extract has an ameliorating effect against cirrhosis induced by TAA.

Keywords: TAA, Cirrhosis, Rosemary, NF-??, IL-1?.