Pretreatment administration of hydro-ethanolic extract of Syzygium aromaticum prevents thioacetamide-induced liver injury in rat

Abstract Introduction Liver injury is an important problem in healthcare. Thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver injury is an established model in experimental research for assessing the impact of various toxins and pharmaceuticals on the liver. TAA induces its harmful effects by the production of oxidative biomolecules. Oxidative stress subsequently alters liver function, resulting in alterations in the enzymatic activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Syzygium aromaticum has significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and has been utilised in traditional medicine for liver diseases. Therefore, this study evaluated the hepatoprotective effect of the hydro-ethanolic extract of Syzygium aromaticum (HESA) against TAA-induced liver injury. Material and methods Hepatotoxicity was induced with intraperitoneal administration of TAA (150 mg/kg body weight, 3 days per week for 4 weeks) in Wistar rats. The pretreatment with HESA was conducted at three doses of 50, 150, and 300 mg/kg body weight, administered orally, starting 4 weeks before TAA administration and continued for 8 weeks. The activities of serum AST, ALT, and ALP, as well as liver superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA), were assessed. Histopathological analyses were conducted using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Results The findings showed that HESA pretreatment significantly lowered TAA-induced oxidative stress. Additionally, TAA significantly increased AST, ALT, and ALP serum levels, whereas HESA significantly recovered the corresponding values. H&E staining also showed that TAA-induced structural liver damage was characterised by central vein dilatation, and necrosis, and apoptosis in adjacent cells. The histopathological findings of the TAA group were partially recovered in the pretreatment extract groups. Conclusion The results of this study support the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Syzygium aromaticum against TAA-induced liver injury.