The present study was designed to study the protective effects of alpha lipoic acid (ALA) and silymarin (SIL) against thioacetamide (TAA)-induced hepatic damage. Sixty male albino rats were divided into 6 groups (10 rats each); control group, TAA-treated group: injected intraperitoneally with TAA 250 mg/kg bwt/day three times a week, ALA-treated group: received ALA 100 mg/kg bwt/day) orally three times a week, SIL-treated group: received SIL 100 mg/kg bwt/day orally three times a week, TAA+ALA-treated group, and TAA+SIL-treated group at the same previous doses and routes for ten weeks.
Results showed that TAA induced a significant increase in serum liver enzymes, total and direct bilirubin, total cholesterol and triglycerides levels after four and ten weeks of the treatments. While the serum levels of total proteins, albumin and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol revealed a significant decrease. TAA injection resulted in an increase in the hepatic lipid peroxidation and decreased antioxidant biomarker levels. Histopathologically, TAA revealed marked degenerative, necrotic and fibrotic alterations in the liver, particularly during ten weeks post-treatment. ALA and SIL- treatment ameliorated TAA-induced oxidative damage, alterations in the liver function tests and liver histopathology. However, ALA demonstrated better hepatic protection against TAA-induced liver damage as compared to SIL. The study clearly concluded that ALA has more powerful antioxidant properties than SIL.
Key words: liver, thioacetamide, silymarin, alpha lipoic acid, rats.
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