Milk thistle impedes the development of carbontetrachloride-induced liver damage in rats through suppression of bcl-2 and regulating caspase pathway.

AIM: The objective of this study was to examine whether MT plays a protective role against the damage in the liver by administering carbontetrachloride (CCl4) to rats.

MAIN METHOD: 28 male Wistar albino (n=28, 8weeks old) rats have been used in the study. The rats were distributed into 4 groups according to their live weights. The groups were: (i) negative control (NC): normal water consuming group to which no CCl4 and milk thistle (MT) is administered; (ii) positive control (PC): normal water consuming group to which no CCl4 is administered but MT is administered; (iii) CCl4 group: normal water consuming and group to which CCl4 is administered (2ml/kg live weight, ip); and (iv) CCl4+MT group: CCl4 and MT administered group (2ml/kg live weight, ip). Caspase-3, caspase-9, bax, and bcl-2 protein syntheses were examined via western blotting. MDA determination in liver tissue was made using spectrophotometer.

KEY FINDINGS: MDA amount has decreased in the CCl4+MT group in comparison to CCl4 group whereas caspase-3 and caspase-9 has increased and bax and bcl-2 has decreased.

SIGNIFICANCE: These results show that MT protects the liver against oxidative damage.