The Impact of Aqueous Ethanol Extract of Acacia Pennata Leaves on Fructose-Induced Fatty Liver in Rats

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects nearly 50% from globe; from both adults and children due to wrong nutritional practices and lack of awareness. Untreated NAFLD can be worsened to end in liver cancer. However fatty liver can be reversed by lifestyle modifications. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of Acacia pennata leaves extract (APLE) in improving liver insults due to NAFLD induced in rats by feeding them high fructose diet for 12 weeks. Thirty male adult rats were divided into 5 groups of 6 rats each. Oral daily intervention for treating induced NAFLD started from the 9th week till the end of the experiment using APLE (250 mg/kg); that was compared with metformin (100 mg/kg) or combination of metformin (100 mg/kg) with APLE (250 mg/kg). At the end of the experiment rats were anaesthesized and serum was separated. Different biochemical parameters in serum were measured spectrophotometrically. Combinatory intervention of APLE with metformin was the best in preventing the progression of NAFLD. Significant improvements in serum glucose, insulin, insulin resistance and lipid profile (TG, TC, LDL-c and HDL-c) were noticed. Liver enzymes were also significantly decreased relative to the diseased group. Serum uric acid and liver contents of TG, TC and MDA (lipid peroxidation product) were significantly decreased; while superoxide dismutase was significantly increased. Other groups showed significant improvements but less than the group that received combinatory intervention. Histopathological examination of liver tissue confirmed the biochemical results.