Hepatotoxic Effects (hepatotoxic + effects)

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Selected Abstracts


Hematotoxic and hepatotoxic effects of dichlorvos at sublethal dosages in rats

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
Ismail Celik
Abstract The present study was designed to understand the effects of sublethal concentrations of dichlorvos (DIC) on hematological constituent [red blood corpuscles, white blood corpuscles (WBC), mean cell volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, platelet counts, hemoglobin and hematocrite levels] and serum damage marker enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase, alanin aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase) in rats at subacute period under laboratory conditions. DIC at dosages of 5 and 10 ppm was administered orally to six male rats ad libitum during the tests for 4 weeks consecutively. According to the results, DIC treatments increased significantly the levels of serum marker enzyme activities, whereas they did not change hematologic constituent except for WBC number treated with both dosages of DIC. The observations presented led us to conclude that the administrations of subacute DIC induced the levels of damage marker enzymes and leukocytosis. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2009. [source]


Hepatoprotective efficacy of certain flavonoids against microcystin induced toxicity in mice

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY, Issue 5 2007
R. Jayaraj
Abstract Toxic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) water blooms have become a serious problem in several industrialized areas of the world. Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is a cyanobacterial heptapeptide that represents acute and chronic hazards to animal and human health. Identification of suitable chemprotectants against microcystin is essential considering human health hazards. In the present study, we have evaluated the protective efficacy of three flavanoids namely quercetin (200 mg/kg), silybin (400 mg/kg), and morin (400 mg/kg)] pretreatment against microcystin toxicity (0.75 LD50, 57.5 ,g/kg) in mice. Various biochemical variables were measured to study the recovery profile of protected animals at 1- and 3-days post-toxin treatment. The serum alanine amino transferase (ALT) shows 17-fold increase in MC-LR treated animals compared with control group at 1 day. The silybin and quercetin group showed a decrease in level of ALT compared with MC-LR group but still higher than control group. No significant protection was observed with aspartate aminotransaminase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in flavanoid-treated groups at 1-day post-treatment. But at 3 days, the serum levels of AST and ALT were normalized to control values, but the serum LDH levels were still significantly higher than the control group. No significant changes were observed in glutathione peroxidase and reduced glutathione levels at both 1- and 3-day postexposure. The catalase activity shows a significant decrease in quercetin-treated animals at 3-day postexposure. The protein phosphatase was significantly inhibited in MC-LR group compared to control. The silybin pretreated group showed recovery after 1 day. At 3 days, the PPAse activity was reversed to control values in all the flavanoid-treated groups. Immunoblotting analysis showed microcystin-PPAse adduct in liver tissues of toxin-treated as well as flavanoid-treated mice even after 3 days. The results of this study show that flavanoids, quercetin, silybin, and morin could reverse the hepatotoxic effects of MC-LR in vivo. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 22: 472,479, 2007. [source]


The protective effect of N -acetylcysteine against cyclosporine A-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

JOURNAL OF APPLIED TOXICOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
Hasan Kaya
Abstract The immunosuppressive agent cyclosporine A (CsA) has been reported to exert measurable hepatotoxic effects. One of the causes leading to hepatotoxicity is thought to be reactive oxygen radical formation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of N -acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment on CsA-induced hepatic damage by both analysing superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) activities with malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels, and using an histological approach. CsA administration produced a decrease in hepatic SOD activity, and co-administration of NAC with CsA resulted in an increase in SOD activity. MDA and NO levels increased in the CsA group and NAC treatment prevented those increases. A significant elevation in serum AST and ALT activities was observed in the CsA group, and when NAC and CsA were co-administered, the activities of AST and ALT were close to the control levels. CsA treatment caused evident morphological alterations. Control rats showed no abnormality in the cytoarchitecture of the hepatic parenchyma. The co-administration of NAC with CsA showed no signs of alteration and the morphological pattern was almost similar to the control group. In conclusion, CsA induced liver injury and NAC treatment prevented the toxic side effects induced by CsA administration through the antioxidant and radical scavenging effects of NAC. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Double-prodrugs of L -cysteine: Differential protection against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in mice

JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMICAL AND MOLECULAR TOXICOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
Daune L. Crankshaw
Abstract A series of double-prodrugs of L -cysteine, designed to release L -cysteine in vivo and stimulate the biosynthesis of glutathione (GSH), were synthesized. To evaluate the hepatoprotective effectiveness of these double-prodrugs, male Swiss-Webster mice were administered acetaminophen (ACP) (2.45 mmol/kg (360 mg/kg), intraperitoneally (i.p.)). Prodrug (2.50 mmol/kg, i.p. or 1.25 mmol/kg, i.p., depending on the protocol) was administered 1 h before ACP as a priming dose. A supplementary dose of prodrug (2.5 mmol/kg, i.p. or 1.25 mmol/kg, i.p. depending on the protocol) was administered 0.5 h after ACP. The plasma alanine amino transferase (ALT) values, 24 h after ACP administration were transformed to logs and the 95% and 99% confidence intervals of the log values were plotted and compared for each group. Hepatoprotection was assessed by the degree of attenuation of plasma ALT levels. With these multiple dose schedules, the use of 2% carboxymethylcellulose as vehicle for the prodrugs was found to be detrimental; therefore, the prodrugs were dissolved in dilute aqueous base and the pH adjusted for administration. When a priming dose was given 1 h before ACP followed by a supplementary dose 0.5 h after ACP, only N,S -bis-acetyl- L -cysteine, where both the sulfhydryl and amino groups of L -cysteine were functionalized with the acetyl group, was found to be effective in protecting mice against the hepatotoxic effects of ACP. This suggests that these acetyl groups were rapidly hydrolyzed in vivo to liberate L -cysteine. In contrast, N -acetylation of 2(R,S)-methylthiazolidine-4(R)-carboxylic acid (MTCA) and its 2- n -propyl analog (PTCA), or N -acetylation of 2-oxothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (OTCA), reduced the hepatoprotective effects relative to the parent MTCA, PTCA, and OTCA, indicating that the release of L -cysteine in vivo from these N -acetylated thiazolidine prodrugs was metabolically unfavorable. The carbethoxy group, whether functionalized on the sulfhydryl or on the amino group of L -cysteine, or on the secondary amino group of MTCA, appears to be a poor "pro-moiety," since these carbethoxylated double-prodrugs of L -cysteine did not protect mice from ACP-induced hepatotoxicity. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 16:235,244, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jbt.10044 [source]


Potential of deoxynivalenol to induce transcription factors in human hepatoma cells

MOLECULAR NUTRITION & FOOD RESEARCH (FORMERLY NAHRUNG/FOOD), Issue 4 2009
Carina Nielsen
Abstract To assess the hepatotoxicity of deoxynivalenol (DON), human hepatoma cells (Hep-G2) were used as an in vitro model. After exposing Hep-G2 cells to low (1 ,M) and high dose (10 ,M), gene expression profiles were analysed by microarray. More than 5% of genes were up-regulated, most of them being involved in transcriptional regulation. By real-time RT-PCR, elevated expression of transcription factors, commonly induced by activation of MAPK-pathway, was demonstrated for Hep-G2 cells on mRNA and protein level. Further studies, involving U937 human monocytes, showed that effects of DON treatment on mRNA and protein level were concentration-dependent and cell-specific. An inverse relation was noticed for the level of DON induced expression of transcription factors (JUN, FOS, EGR1 and ATF3) and the susceptibility of the cell lines towards the mycotoxin. This is the first report giving evidence that on a molecular level the mild hepatotoxic effects of DON are probably caused by the induction of transcription factors which are known to be associated with injury-induced liver regeneration processes. With ATF3, a novel downstream target gene was identified in DON-related cell signalling suggesting a potential linkage between molecular action and biological effects like reduction of glycogen storage in liver tissue. [source]


Analgesic and hepatotoxic effects of Ononis spinosa L.

PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH, Issue 6 2006
Betül Sever Yőlmaz
Abstract The present study investigated the analgesic and hepatoprotective activities of a water extract of Ononis spinosa L. (OS) in mice. Analgesic activity was based on the pain thresholds measured with the tail-flick test before administration at 30, 90 and 150 min. The results were analysed with one-way variance analysis. The extract of Ononis spinosa showed analgesic activity equivalent to aspirin at 30 and 90 min and even higher than aspirin with the 50 mg/kg dose. At a dose of 100 mg/kg OS showed an analgesic effect equivalent to aspirin at all time points. The hepatoprotective influence of OS on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute liver toxicity was also studied. The extract had no significant effect on the increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and bilirubin in CCl4 treated animals (p > 0.05). Thus, the results reveal that the extract of OS had no hepatoprotective effect on CCl4 -induced acute liver toxicity. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]