Background: Liver has an important role in the initiation and progression of multiple organ failure that occurs in sepsis. Many natural active substances can be used to reduce the liver injury caused by sepsis. For this aim, the efects of myricetin and apigenin on mice model of acute liver injury was evaluated in this study.
Methods and results: Thirty-six mice were randomly divided into six groups as; control, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (5 mg/kg), LPS+myricetin (100 mg/kg), LPS+myricetin (200 mg/kg), LPS+apigenin (100 mg/kg), and LPS+apigenin (200 mg/kg) groups. Myricetin and apigenin were administered orally for 7 days, and LPS was administered intraperitoneally only on the
7th day of the study. 24 h after LPS application, all animals were sacrifced and serum biochemical parameters, histopathology and oxidative stress and infammation markers of liver tissue were examined. Myricetin and apigenin pre-treatments
increased serum albumin and total protein levels, liver GSH level and catalase and SOD activities and decreased serum ALT, AST, ALP, γ-GT, CRP, total and direct bilirubin levels, liver MPO activity, MDA, NOx, PGE2, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels, iNOS and COX-2 mRNA levels, phosphorylation of NF-κB p65, IκB, and IKK proteins but not p38, ERK, and JNK proteins in LPS-treated mice. Myricetin and apigenin administration also regained the hepatic architecture disrupted during LPS application.
Conclusion: Myricetin and apigenin pre-treatments led to reduction of liver injury indices and oxidative stress and infammatory events and these favonoids has probably hepatoprotective efects in acute liver injury.