THE PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF THE CURCUMA LONGA EXTRACT ON ACETAMINOPHEN - INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN MICE

Acetaminophen is widely used as an analgesic and antipyretic drug, which can cause hepatic injury when given in high doses. The purpose of this study was to find out the hepatoprotective effect of Curcuma longa extract against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. In this study six groups of mice (each group consisted of 10 mice) were used. The first group(C) received only normal saline as the negative control group and the second group (A) had been fed by 750 mg/kg acetaminophen as positive control group. The test groups (T1-T4) treated by Curcuma longa rhizoma extract in doses 200,400,800 and 1000 mg/kg respectively and after 24 hours blood was taken from the jugular arteries of the mice΄s necks for biochemical tests and at the same time liver was removed and kept in 10% formalin solution for histopathology tests. The results showed that the acute elevation of serum transaminases (ALT, AST) significiently reduced in the groups receiving Curcuma longa and the difference with the positive group (A) was significant (p<0.01). Necrosis of liver showed appropriate decrease according to histopathologic observation. It is concluded that Curcuma longa extract seems to have protective effect on hepatotoxicity induced by acetaminophen.