Abstract
Flavonoids have been shown to have antioxidant factors and effective against hepatotoxicity. This in vivo study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of flavonoids rich extracts in a model of chemicalinduced liver cell injury. Materials and Methods: Flavonoids were extracted from leaves and flowers of Arbutus pavarii using Microwave assisted extraction method. Different concentrations of extracted flavonoids (200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000mg/kg bw) were evaluated up to two weeks on mice model. The hepatoprotective effects of the extracts were examined using mice pretreated orally with 200 and 400 mg/kg bw of flavonoids extracted from leaves and flowers as well as their combination (200 mg/kg; 1:1) for 28 days. At day 28, the mice were received orally a single dose of 1ml/kg CCl4 in corn oil. Forty-eight hours after Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) treatment, the animals were sacrificed and their liver and blood samples were collected for determination of biochemical parameters (Alkaline phosphatase (ALT), Aspartate-aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine-aminotransferase (ALP)), histopathological investigation and antioxidant status. Results: Treatment of the mice with a daily dose of flavonoids extracts up to 5 g/kg bw did not cause mortality and did not show hepatotoxicity. Pretreatment with extracts decreased the increased serum levels of ALT, AST, and ALP, decreased lipid peroxidation and maintained the levels of glutathione and antioxidant enzymes status in the CCl4 treated mice, especially in the group treated with combined extracts. The hepato-protcitve effects were confirmed by histopathological examinations. Conclusion: The results shown by the extracted flavonoids need further investigation.