Ameliorative Potential of Silmarin on Albino Wistar Rats with CCl4 Induced Liver Damage Using Serum Acute-Phase Protein Concentrations as Biomarker

Abstract

This study examined the effect of Silymarin on serum acute phase proteins concentration of albino wistar rat with CCl4 induced liver damage. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or Hepatoma is one of the most common types of liver disease that causes damage and 
develops in hepatocytes which are the predominant liver cells and like any other disease, develops when the epigenetic alterations and mutations affecting the cellular machinery cause the cell to replicate at a higher rate results in the cell avoiding apoptosis. Fifteen 
(15) albino Wistar rats weighing 60–160g were divided into three groups of 5 animals as follows; Group I was given only distilled water and served as the normal control, Group II was induced with HCC using CCl4 but not treated and served as the positive control, Group III was induced with HCC using CCl4 and treated using Silymarin. The treatment lasted for thirty-one (31) days. Animals were then sacrificed 12 hours after administering the last dose of treatment and blood samples collected via cardiac puncture. The parameters analysed for includes; erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR), ceruloplamin and C-reactive protein (CRP). Statistical interpretation of data generated from this study showed a remarkable increase in serum concentration of ESR (8.20±0.03 mm/hr), CRP (287.00±2.02ng/ml) and CP (8.64±0.12ng/ml) of the positive control group (CCL4) compared to the normal control (1.64±0.93mm/hr ;2.46±0.04ng/ml; and 0.82±0.02ng/ml) respectively. At the other hand, there was a significant reduction in the serum concentration of ESR (2.00 ±0.01mm/hr), CRP (144.40±2.3ng/ml) and CP (7.52±0.06ng/ml) of the test group (silymarin treated) compared to the positive control group. Conclusively, findings from this study suggest that the administration of silymarin as a treatment against CCL4-induced liver damage in albino Wistar rats resulted in reduced (P<0.05) serum levels of CRP, ESR, and CP compared to the CCL4 positive control group (although did not totally revert this abnormal levels to normalcy as compared to normal control). This affirms that silymarin might play a role as a promising hepato-protective and regenerative agent in the complementary treatment/management of liver diseases.