Hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of ethanolic extract of Cucumis melo L against CCl4-induced oxidative damage in rats

The study aimed to assess the effect of crude melon fruits extract (Cucumis melo L.) on the plasma antioxidant capacity and oxidative stress markers in liver tissue of CCl4 -hepatoxicity in mice. The administration of melon extract at doses of 200 and 600 mg/kg during 7 days caused significant elevation of plasma antioxidant capacity using DPPH (36.66 ± 2.53, (46.80 ± 1.708%). However, the administration of extract did not exhibit a significant reducing power (0.545 ± 0.023 and 0.581 ± 0.051) at two doses, respectively compared with control (0.446 ± 0.021). Evaluation of MDA levels revealed that the doses of 200 and 600 mg/kg reduced the lipid peroxidation in liver (21.54 ± 3.519 and 26.62 ± 6.681 nmol/g tissue respectively) compared with control group (126.2 ± 17.9 nmol/g tissue). Furthermore, a significant impact on protein levels in the liver was observed at a dose of 600mg/kg with a value of 18.61 ± 1.885 mg/ml. The catalase activity displayed an important elevation with 583.8 ± 34.56 U/tissue at the dose of 600mg/kg. Additionally, there was a significant increase in glutathione levels (9.335 ± 0.2980 μmol/g tissues and 9.476 ± 0.3349 μmol/g tissue) at both doses respectively. The findings of this study highlight melons as a source of natural antioxidants with significant biological functions.