Abstract

Corrective effects of centaurium umbellatum against diabetesinduced hepatic injury and oxidative stress in rats

Author(s): Mediha Sefi, Tahia Boudawara, Najiba Zeghal

The present study investigated the effects of Centaurium umbellatum (CU) extract on liver oxidative stress in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Animals were divided into four groups of seven each: a negative control which received saline solution; a positive control which received 200 mg/kg bw of CU; STZ diabetic rats and diabetic rats cotreated with CU (200 mg/kg bw). The activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were decreased, while those of catalase (CAT) and the levels of reduced glutathione (GSH); malondialdehyde (MDA) and carbonyls (PCO) were increased in liver of STZ diabetic rats as compared to those of controls. Moreover, there was an increase in the activities of liver biomarkers like alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and ã-glutamiltransferase (ã-GT). Daily treatment with CU improved all the biochemical parameters cited above.All changes were confirmed by liver histological pictures. The results indicated that CU possessed antioxidant properties and might be used in the future as a protective agent against hepatotoxicity induced by diabetes.