Protective effects of Cholestin on ethanol induced oxidative stress in rats

BACKGROUND: Male Wistar rats were divided into seven groups as follows: group A, basal diet; group B, basal diet with Cholestin at 0.1667 g kg-1 body weight (BW); groups C-F, oral feeding of ethanol at 7.9 g kg-1 BW; groups D-F, Cholestin in diet at 0.1667, 0.3333 and 0.5 g kg-1 BW respectively; group G, silymarin in diet at 200 mg kg-1 BW. RESULTS: The results showed that treatment with Cholestin for 8 weeks reduced the impact of ethanol toxicity on serum markers of liver damage: aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The antioxidant system was significantly enhanced: plasma and hepatic thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) levels were lowered while hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), ethanol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activities and non-enzymatic antioxidants (vitamin E, vitamin C and GSH) were elevated. CONCLUSION: Cholestin shows a protective effect against hepatotoxicity indices in ethanol-fed rats comparable to that of silymarin, as supported by the evaluation of liver histopathology. The data suggest that Cholestin exerts its hepatoprotective effect by decreasing lipid peroxidation and improving antioxidants status, thus proving itself as an effective antioxidant in ethanol-induced oxidative damage in rats.