Effect of silymarin on the relative gene expressions of some inflammatory cytokines in the liver of CCl4-intoxicated male rats

• Published in: Scientific reports 2023-09, Vol.13 (1), p.15245-12, Article 15245
• Main Authors: El-Kot, Sarah M., Wanas, Wessam, Hafez, Afaf M., Mahmoud, Nihal A., Tolba, Amina M., Younis, Abeer H., Sayed, Gamal El, Abdelwahab, Huda E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/45; 692/53; Alcohols; Anesthesia; Carbon tetrachloride; Corn; Cyclooxygenase-2; Cytokines; Gene expression; Hepatocytes; Histopathology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Inflammation; Injection; Liver; multidisciplinary; Oils & fats; Oxidative stress; Prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Silymarin; Transforming growth factor-b; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Xenobiotics
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42250-7

The intensive exposure of the liver cells to any type of noxae, such as viruses, drugs, alcohols, and xenobiotics could induce hepatic inflammation through the upregulation of gene expression of several fibrotic and inflammatory mediators. So, our study assessed the role of silymarin on the inflammatory response induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) as an example of xenobiotics on liver tissues in male rats. Forty-eight Wister male rats (weight: 130 ± 10) were housed for 14 days and then divided randomly into six groups: control, SLY: rats received only silymarin orally for 12 weeks (daily), CO: rats were injected with corn oil for 8 weeks (3 times weekly), CCl 4 : rats were injected with CCl 4 solubilized in corn oil for 8 weeks (day by day), Treated: rats received silymarin for 4 weeks after CCl 4 injection, Protected: rats received silymarin for 4 weeks before and 8 weeks during CCl 4 injection. When the treatment period for the rats was over, they underwent scarification after anesthesia. Then, the sera were extracted from the collected blood for the determination of irisin levels, liver functions, and lipid profiles. Liver tissues were separated for the histopathological examinations, the determination of oxidative stress (OS) parameters content, and the relative gene expression of inflammatory cytokines; nuclear factor kappa (NF)-κB, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β). The findings showed that silymarin reduced liver inflammation by overcoming the OS process and inflammatory cytokines production which was stimulated by CCl 4 . These results were confirmed by histopathology of liver tissues.