Urtica dioica L. attenuates bisphenol A-induced hepatotoxicity in rats by suppressing apoptosis and inflammation

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of Urtica dioica L. (UD) against liver damage induced by bisphenol A (BPA) in rats. Materials and Methods: To this end, 48 healthy male Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into six groups: control (0.5 ml of normal saline); BPA (50 mg/kg); UD100 (100 mg/kg); UD200 (200 mg/kg); BPA+UD100; and BPA+UD200. All administrations were carried out for 56 days. The effects of the BPA and UD administrations on expression levels of Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in liver tissue samples were evaluated using Western blotting and immunohistochemical analyses. Results: BPA caused significant increases in the Bax/Bcl-2 expression ratio (+45.2-fold) and TNF-α levels (+12.2-fold) in liver tissue. In groups treated with UD at 100 and 200 mg/kg doses, apoptosis was suppressed by upregulating Bcl-2 expression and downregulating Bax expression. Furthermore, the co-administration of UD was observed to significantly reduce the histopathological damage caused by BPA in liver tissue. In the BPA+UD100 group, inflammation was suppressed by downregulating TNF-α expression (-18.8-fold); however, in the BPA+UD200 group, TNF-α expression levels were higher than in the control group. Conclusion: These findings suggest that UD treatment can mitigate the adverse effects of BPA on liver tissue and enhance tissue healing in rats.