Abstract
Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a potentially reversible spectral neuropsychiatric state that complicates liver disease and negatively affects the prognosis. This study evaluated the effect of Curcuma longa in acute HE in rat and determined the behavioral, biochemical, and histological changes. Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into the control and three experimental groups. Thioacetamide (TAA, 300 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally to induce acute HE. Curcumin was administered orally at doses of 200, 300, and 400 mg/kg. The animals’ behavior, levels of ammonia, alkaline phosohatase (ALP), alanine transaminase (ALT), and aspartate transaminase (AST) enzymes were evaluated. The livers were evaluated histologically too. TAA could successfully induce inflammation and necrosis in hepatic tissue. Regarding the behavioral score, an increase in the dose of curcumin was correlated with a significant decrease in behavioral score. Ammonia, ALP, ALT, and AST levels were significantly lower among curcumin-receiving groups when compared with the control group, which was dose dependent. Histologically, curcumin was shown to reduce inflammation and necrosis in hepatic tissue, which was dose dependent too. Our findings revealed that curcumin could successfully prevent acute HE, which may happen due to a reduction in release of free radicals in the liver.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Shiraz University of Medical Sciences for financial support. Also, they appreciate the helps of Dr. Mahjoob Vahedi and Mr. Khashayar Saraiee from the Laboratory Animal Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
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Farjam, M., Mehrabani, D., Abbassnia, F. et al. The healing effect of Curcuma longa on liver in experimental acute hepatic encephalopathy of rat. Comp Clin Pathol 23, 1669–1673 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-014-1883-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-014-1883-0