Effect of some natural products on Hepatic Ischemia/Reperfusion-induced injury in rats

The present investigation is designed to assess the expected protective effect of aqueous garlic extract and alpha lipoic acid against damage mediated through hepatic I/R. This may be achieved by studying the possible underlying mechanisms that may be involved in this process including: hepatocellular damage (assessed by measuring serum levels of liver enzymes), free radicals such as nitric oxide (NO) and lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA), cellular antioxidant defense mechanisms such as reduced glutathione content (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). Moreover, the present study was designed to clarify whether these natural products mediate their protective effects through activation of the PPAR-γ. This was applied by measuring and comparing the effects of the two natural products in presence and absence of the PPAR-γ antagonist, BADGE. The study involved pioglitazone as a selective PPAR-γ agonist and diclofenac sodium as a reference anti-inflammatory drug.Furthermore, some markers of remote organ damage such as serum creatinine and glucose were also investigated.