Histopathological study on the effects of Crocin on prevention of fatty liver disease in the rats fed with high fat diet

Subject Areas : Veterinary Clinical Pathology

داریوش Mohajeri ¹ , علی Rezae ² , GH Mousavi ³ , جعفر Rahmani ⁴

1 - Departement of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
2 - Departement of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
3 - Departement of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
4 - Departement of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

Received: 2011-09-26 Accepted : 2011-12-31 Published : 2011-11-22

Keywords: Rats, Liver steatosis, High fat fed diet, Crocin,

Abstract :

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now recognized as the most common type of liver disease and might lead to an important public health problem. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective effects of Crocin on rat high fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis model. For this purpose male Wistar rats were given either control diet, high fat diet alone or high fat diet plus Crocin via gavage at different doses (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) for 4 weeks in different experimental groups. Histopathological studies of the liver were conducted in all experimental rats at the end of experiment. Animals of the different groups were sacricified by cervical dislocation. Liver issue specimens were fixed in 10% buffered formalin and 5 micron thick sections were prepared using routine hitopathological techniques.The serum levels of aminotransferases, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured to determine hepatocyte injury. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin (TB) were measured to assess biliary function. Albumin (Alb) and total protein (TP) was measured to reflect liver synthetic function. Histopathology of the liver in high fat diet fed rats showed severe fatty change of hepatocytes. Crocin reduced accumulation of lipid droplets in the hepatocytes in a dose dependent manner. In the high fat diet fed rats, serum levels of ALT, AST, ALP and TB significantly (p<0.01) increased, and serum Alb as well as TP levels significantly (p<0.01) reduced in comparison with normal control rats. Crocin treatments (100 and 50 mg/kg) significantly (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively) reduced elevated markers of liver tissue injury and significantly (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively) increased serum Alb and TP levels in high fat diet fed rats. Low dose of Crocin (25 mg/kg) made no significant changes in the mentioned parameters. The results obtained showed that Crocin has protective effects against hepatic steatosis in rats fed with high fat. 

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