Natural polyphenols target the TGF-β/caspase-3 signaling pathway in CCl4-induced liver fibrosis in rats

Abstract

Background/Aims: Liver fibrosis presents a worldwide problem. There is an increasing interest in the studying of natural compounds with free radicals scavenging capacity to protect against liver fibrosis. This study investigated the actions of resveratrol and curcumin as two natural polyphenols against CCl 4 -induced liver fibrosis. Materials and Methods: Animals were divided into four groups: Normal control group; CCl 4 only group; Res group (resveratrol + CCl 4 ); Cur group (curcumin + CCl 4 ). Serum ALT and AST were evaluated. Assessment of liver MDA, GSH and catalase was performed. Caspase-3 expression was evaluated by western blotting. Levels of TGF-β1 and TGF-β2 mRNA were determined using qRT-PCR. In addition, liver histopathological sections were examined. Results: We found that serum ALT and AST were elevated by CCl 4 , however, they were significantly reduced by resveratrol and curcumin. Furthermore, CCl 4 induced oxidative stress, stimulated fibrosis and apoptosis. Resveratrol and curcumin significantly attenuated the state of oxidative stress, fibrosis and apoptosis. Conclusion: We conclude that resveratrol and curcumin are natural polyphenols that can protect against liver fibrosis not only via antioxidant, but also via anti-fibrotic and anti-apoptotic potentials.

Silymarin protects against sepsis-induced acute liver and kidney injury via anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms in the rat

“…Moreover, these results were augmented by histological evidence showing distorted renal and hepatic architecture and increased tissue damage in CLP rats. Our findings are in accordance with several previous reports demonstrating liver and kidney dysfunction in septic rats [12,48,49]. On the other hand, the decreased serum hepatic and renal damage markers, which was substantiated with beneficial histological findings in the silymarin-treated animals highlight its hepatorenal protective effects.…”

“…Moreover, a more recent study suggested that the cytoprotective effects of silymarin can be attributed to normalization of lipid metabolism and preservation of mitochondrial energy production in high fat feeding-induced murine model of obesity [58]. Nevertheless, several studies illustrated the protective effects of other antioxidants such as N-acetylcysteine, resveratrol, vitamin E and curcumin on different organs following induction of sepsis [14,49,59,60].…”