Hypericum Humifusum Leaves Attenuates Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in a Rat Model

Effective prevention strategies require specific actions during the different phases of ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) injury. The objective of our study is to evaluate the effect of aqueous extract of Hypericum humifusum leaves (HHL) on liver I-R model in Rat.

Animals were subjected to 90 min of hepatic ischemia followed by reperfusion (120 min). HHL extract (25 mg/mL/kg) was injected 15 min before reperfusion. To evaluate the effect of HHL extract on I-R, we have monitored transaminases levels, Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, histological lesions (apoptosis and necrosis) and compared the results to a reference oxidant vitamin E.

The determination of total phenol extracts of HHL was 59.91 ± 0.35 mg of Gallic Acid/g dry plant material with higher antioxidant activity (91.73% ± 1.67) compared to vitamin E (87.42%). Using aqueous extract of HHL, we noted a significant decrease of AST and ALT [1129 UI (585/1995) and 768 UI (335/1375)] compared to no-treated group [5,585.5 UI (5,035/12,070) and 8,099.5 UI (5,040/12,326)] as a decrease in MDA content [85.7% protection (50.9/91.5)]. HHL extract reduce the damage induced by I-R of 48.7% (27/48.7) and 96.1% (95.7/96.5) for necrosis and apoptosis lesions respectively.

HHL aqueous extract have potential to protect liver from the damage effect induced by I-R better than vitamin E solution.