Liver protective effect of Indonesian bay leaf on liver injury in alloxan-induced diabetic Wistar rats

Prolonged hyperglycemia can cause microvascular damage and lead to various microvascular complications. One of these complications is liver injury. Various natural products have been investigated for the treatment and prevention of this condition. One of these natural products is Indonesia bay leaf. Due to this reason, this study was conducted to investigate the liver-protective effect of Indonesian bay leaf extract against liver injury in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. This experimental study used thirty-two diabetic male Wistar rats that were grouped into four groups: Group I as control (distilled water), II as normal (non-diabetic), III as Indonesia bay leaf -1 (100 mg/ kg BW), and IV as Indonesia bay leaf -2 (200 mg/ kg BW). The diabetic condition was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 150 mg/ kg BW 5% Alloxan solution. This study evaluated some parameters, including blood glucose levels on the 7th and 14th days, as well as liver tissue histology. Administration of Indonesia bay leaf extract significantly decreased blood glucose levels on the 7th and 14th days (P-Value < 0.05). On the other hand, the histological study of liver tissue showed that the increase in Indonesian bay leaf significantly improved diabetic-induced liver injury, as demonstrated by the improvement in hepatocyte structure and size, a decrease in necrosis, and reduced inflammatory cell infiltration. Thus, it can be concluded that both Indonesian bay leaf extract doses can significantly improve liver tissue injury by keeping the blood glucose level within the normal range.