Protective Effect of N-acetylcysteine on Rifampicin-induced Hepatic Injury in Mice / 医药导报

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the role of N-acetylcysteine as a protective agent in rifampicin-induced hepatic injury of mice. Methods Thirth-two Kunming mice were randomly divided into four groups(n=8 each).The mice in each group were injected intraperitoneally with 0.9% sodium chloride solution (control), N-acetylcysteine (NAC), combination of rifampicin (R), or NAC and R (NAC+R) once every day.After 14 days, the liver index (LI), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase ( AST) activity in serum, and the level of malondialdehyde( MDA) ,superoxide dismutase( SOD) activity in liver tissues were measured respectively.Hepatic tissue morphology was observed under light microscope. Results Macroscopic analysis revealed that rifampicin led to severe liver tissue injury,including a wide range of hepatocellular vascular congestion,fatty change and local necrosis, whereas the administrationof NAC produced a significant reduction of rifampicin-induced hepatotoxicity .LI,ALT and AST activities in R or NAC+R group were significantly elevated as compared with the control group(P<0.01) .LI, activities of ALT and AST in serum,and MDA levels in liver tissues in NAC+R group were significantly lower than those in R group ( P<0.01) ,but the SOD activity in NAC+R group was increased significantly in comparison with R group (P<0.01). Conclusion Rifampicin was able to cause severe hepatic injury.Pre-administration of NAC reduced the side-effect induced by the treatment with the rifampicin.