Biochemical evaluation of the protective impact of silymarin against cyclophosphamide- induced hepatotoxicity in rats

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to investigate the ameliorative effect of silymarin on the hepatotoxicity induced by cyclophosphamide [CP] in female albino rats. The results revealed that cyclophosphamide induced marked increase in relative liver weight and serum levels of ALT, AST and decrease in serum albumin level which were normalized by silymarin administration. Pretreatment with silymarin significantly attenuated cyclophosphamide-induced increases in malondialdehyde [MDA] in the liver homogenate. The results revealed that the activities of lysosomal enzymes acid phosphatase [ACP], beta-N-acetyl glucosaminidase [beta-NAG] and beta- galactosidase [beta-GAL] were increased significantly in CP-treated animals while pretreatment by silymarin caused marked attenuation in the increased activities of the three enzymes. Cyclophosphamide significantly decreased reduced glutathione [GSH], glutathione-s-transferase [GST] and glutathione reductase [GR] levels in the liver homogenate, while pretreatment with silymarin blunted the decreased levels of GSH,GST and GR. Our results revealed the potential hepatoprotective effect of silymarin against cyclophosphamide-induced hepatotoxicity. So, it may be worthy to consider the beneficial use of silymarin as supplement with cyclophosphamide therapy