Protective effect of Descurainia sophia ethanolic extract on antioxidant enzyme levels in carbon tetrachloride induced liver damage of Wistar rats

Various studies have shown the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects of Descorainia sophia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hepatoprotective ability of Descorainia sophia ethanolic extract in liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride in male Wistar rats. In this experimental study, 60 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 10 groups of 6 consisting of normal control, intoxified control (intraperitoneal injection of 0.5 ml/kg of carbon tetrachloride), normal experimental (Descorainia sophia ethanolic extract at doses of 10, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg via intragastric gavage) and intoxified experimental (intraperitoneal injection of 0.5 ml/kg of carbon tetrachloride and Descorainia sophia ethanolic extract at doses of 10, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg via intragastric gavage). After 28 days, the levels of antioxidant enzymes viz. superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and level of malondialdehyde in liver homogenate were evaluated. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and the Tukey post hoc test with statistical significance defined as p<0.05. Our results showed that administration of carbon tetrachloride significantly decreased the levels of antioxidant enzymes and increased the level of malondialdehyde in the intoxified control group in comparison to normal control group (p<0.001). Also, the administration of Descorainia sophia ethanolic extract significantly increased the levels of antioxidant enzymes and decreased the level of malondialdehyde in the liver of intoxified experimental groups in comparison with the intoxified control group (p<0.05) in a dose dependent manner. The results of the study indicated that Descorainia sophia removes free radicals and reduces oxidative stress caused by carbon tetrachloride in hepatic tissue of rats probably due to its flavonoid compounds.