Dihydroquercetin as a means of antioxidative defence in rats with tetrachloromethane hepatitis.

The antioxidant effect of dihydroquercetin (DHQ) was studied in Wistar rats with experimental hepatitis, caused by tetrachloromethane (CCl(4)). Animals were divided into three groups: intact (n = 9); control (n = 9) which received CCl(4) subcutaneously for 4 days (4 mL/kg); and experimental (n = 9) which received DHQ (100 mg/kg) for 4 days prior to the first administration of CCl(4) and during the course of the subsequent 14 days. DHQ was intubated per os, using a water crystalline suspension. The content of products of lipid peroxidation, reacting with thiobarbituric acid in the serum and liver of the control animals, was increased by more than 1.5 fold compared with the intact and experimental animals (p < 0.01). The blood plasma antioxidant activity of the control animals was 1.8 to 2 times lower than that of experimental and intact animals (p < 0.01) It is suggested that the data obtained are dependent on the anti-oxidant properties of DHQ.