Efficient hepatoprotective activity of cranberry extract against CCl-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar albino rat model: Down-regulation of liver enzymes and strong antioxidant activity.

Objective: To investigate the hepatoprotective efficacy of cranberry extract (CBE) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl)-induced hepatic injury using in-vivo animal model.

Methods: The hepatoprotective efficacy of CBE (200 and 400 mg/kg) was investigated against CCl (4 mL/kg)-induced hepatotoxicity, elevated liver enzymes [ALT (alanine aminotransferase), AST (aspartate aminotransferase), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)], and total protein (TP) contents in the serum. Moreover, CBE-aided antioxidant defense against hepatotoxic insult of CCl was measured by evaluating a number of anti-oxidative biomarkers including reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum by using spectrophotometric analyses.

Results: Results showed that the exposure of experimental animals to CCl did induce significant hepatotoxicity compared to the non-induced (untreated) group. The oral administration of CBE demonstrated a significant dose-dependent alleviation in the liver enzymes (AST, ALT, and ALP), increased antioxidant defense (GSH, SOD, and CAT), and reduced MDA levels in the serum of treated animals compared to the animals without treatment. The resulting data showed that the administration of CBE decreased the serum levels of ALT, AST, and ALP compared to the CCl-induced group.

Conclusions: The resulting data evidenced that CBE exhibits promising hepatoprotective potential against the chemical induced hepatotoxicity, maintains homeostasis in liver enzymes, and can provide significant antioxidant defense against free radicals-induced oxidative stress.