Hepatoprotective effects of purple potato extract against D-galactosamine-induced liver injury in rats

We investigated the hepatoprotective effect of purple potato extract (PPE) agalNst D-galactosamine (galN)-induced liver injury in rats. PPE (400 mg) was administered once daily for 8 d, and then galN (250 mg/kg of body weight) was injected at 22 h before the rats were killed. Serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and asparate aminotranferase (AST) levels increased significantly after injection of galN, but PPE inhibited GalN-induced alterations in serum TNF-a, LDH, ALT, and AST levels. Hepatic lipid peroxide and glutathione levels in the control + galN group were higher and lower respectively than those in the control group, and those in the PPE + galN group did not differ from that in the control group. The lipid peroxide level in hepatic microsomes treated with 2,2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride in the PPE group was significantly lower than that in the control group. This suggests that PPE has hepatoprotective effects agalNst GalN-induced hepatotoxicity via inhibition lipid peroxidation and/or inflammation in rats.