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Prevention by silymarin of membrane alterations in acute CCI 4 liver damage
Author(s) -
Muriel Pablo,
Mourelle Marisabel
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of applied toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1099-1263
pISSN - 0260-437X
DOI - 10.1002/jat.2550100408
Subject(s) - liver damage , pharmacology , medicine , chemistry , traditional medicine
The effect of silymarin on liver lipid peroxidation and membrane lipid alterations induced by an acute dose of CCI 4 was studied. Four groups of animals were treated with CCI 4 , CCI 4 + silymarin, silymarin and its vehicles. CCI 4 was given orally (0.4 g 100 g −1 body wt.) and silymarin was administered i.p. All animals were sacrificed 24 h after the treatments. Liver lipid peroxidation was measured and plasma membranes were isolated. Alkaline phosphatase (AP) and gamma‐glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP) were measured in plasma membranes. Membrane lipids were extracted and then analysed by thin‐layer chromatography by measuring the phosphorus of the phospholipids in each spot. Liver lipid peroxidation was increased about three times in the group receiving CCI 4 only. Silymarin cotreatment prevented this increase. Phosphatidylethanolamine (PEA) decreased, while phosphatidylinositol (PI) increased in the plasma membranes isolated from the CCI 4 ‐treated group. Animals that received CCI 4 + silymarin showed no decrease in PEA content. A partial prevention of the decrease in phosphatidylinositol content was also observed in plasma membranes of animals treated with silymarin in addition to CCI 4 . CCI 4 decreased gamma‐glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) membrane activities. Silymarin cotreatment prevented the AP (completely) and the GGTP (partially) falls caused by CCI 4 . Silymarin by itself increased AP membrane activity. A significant relationship between the membrane content of phosphatidylethanolamine (PEA) and the AP activity was observed in plasma membranes of treated animals and in normal liver membranes enriched with PEA. These results indicate that silymarin can protect against the alterations induced by CCI 4 on the liver plasma membrane through its antioxidant properties by modifying the plasma membrane phospholipid content.