Hepatoprotective effect of ghrelin on carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver injury in rats

Background & Aims: Recent studies have revealed that ghrelin may be an antioxidant and antiinflammatory agent. Oxidative stress are considered to play a prominent causative role in the development of various hepatic disorders. We investigated whether ghrelin plays a protective role against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute liver injury in rats. Methods: Forty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four equal groups as; control, ghrelin, CCl4 and ghrelin plus CCl4. Evaluations were made for lipid peroxidation, enzyme activities and biochemical parameters. Pathological histology was also performed. Results: CCl4 treatment increased plasma and liver tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) content and plasma nitric oxide (NO) level, and decreased erythrocyte and liver tissue superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities when compared to control group. At the same time, CCl4 treatment increased the serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alcaline phosphatase (ALP) activities. By contrast, ghrelin pretreatment reduced plasma and liver MDA content and plasma NO level, and increased erythrocyte and liver tissue SOD. CAT and GPx activities when compared with CCl4-treated group. Moreover, both ghrelin alone and ghrelin plus CCl4 treatment elevated serum glucose level. The CCl4-induced histopathological changes were also reduced by the ghrelin pretreatment. Conclusion: Our results show that ghrelin can be proposed to protect the liver against CCl4-induced oxidative damage in rats, and the hepatoprotective effect may be correlated with its antioxidant and free radical scavenger effects. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.