Abstract
The effects of different concentrations of the hydroalcoholic extract of dried powdered leaves of Cichorium intybus L., on CCl 4 -induced hepatotoxicity in vivo in rats and CCl 4 induced cytotoxicity in isolated rat hepatocytes were investigated. Rats received different concentrations of the extract by i.p. injection for 3 consecutive days before the injection of (3ml/kg) CCl 4 (i.p.). Twenty four h after CCl 4 injection the animals were sacrificed and the livers were dissected for biochemical and histopathological studies. The results showed that the Cichorium intybus extract could protect the liver from CCl 4 -induced damages with doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg, but concentrations higher than 200 mg/kg were less effective. For in vitro studies, the extract were added to the suspension of freshly isolated rat hepatocytes incubated in Krebs-Henseleit buffer under a gas flow of 95% O 2 and 5% CO 2 , 20 minutes before the addition of 10 mM of CCl 4 . The extract with concentrations of 60 to 600 µg /ml protected the cells against CCl 4 -induced cytotoxicity, but concentrations of ≥ 1.5 mg/ml and higher increased the CCl 4 -induced cytotoxicity. The Cichorium intybus extract itself was toxic towards isolated hepatocytes in concentrations above 3.6 mg/ml. The results of the present study therefore supported the traditional believes on hepatoprotective effect of the Cichorium intybus extract, however, high concentrations were hepatotoxic.
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