Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Protective effect of Rhus chinensis Mill. extract against liver cirrhosis in rats

Zirong Pan, Qiang Cheng, Heyan Chen, Longhai Lin, Weijia Liao, Donglai Guo, Jianmin Zhuang

Department of General Surgery, Xiamen Haicang Hospital, Xiamen, Fujian Province 361026, China;

For correspondence:- Jianmin Zhuang Email: jianminxm@163.com Tel:+865926058173

Accepted: 15 January 2021 Published: 28 February 2021

Citation: Pan Z, Cheng Q, Chen H, Lin L, Liao W, Guo D, et al. Protective effect of Rhus chinensis Mill. extract against liver cirrhosis in rats. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(2):365-368 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i2.21

© 2021 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To study the effect of Rhus chinensis Mill. extract (RCME) on diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced liver cirrhosis in rats.

Methods: RCME was obtained by extracting the dried Rhus chinensis Mill. in water. Liver cirrhosis rat model was prepared by injecting with DEN once a week for 8 weeks. After 8th-week of RCME treatment, biochemical index and oxidative stress were determined in DEN-induced liver cirrhosis in rats.

Results: Compared with model group, plasma concentrations of alanine transaminase (ALT, 125.3 ± 4.1 U/L) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST, 152.4 ± 3.5 U/L) decreased significantly (p < 0.01) in the 8th week. Rhus chinensis Mill. extract (RCME) significantly decreased malondialdehyde (MDA, 0.18 ± 0.02 umol/L) and superoxide dismutase (SOD, 0.76 ± 0.05 U/mg protein) in DEN-induced liver cirrhosis in rats (p < 0.01) when compared with model group.

Conclusion: RCME protects against diethylnitrosamine-induced liver cirrhosis in rats. However, further investigations are required to ascertain the plant extract’s suitability for the clinical management of liver cirrhosis.

Keywords: Rhus chinensis Mill., Liver cirrhosis, Diethylnitrosamine, Alanine transaminase, Aspartate aminotransferase