The Eurasian Journal of Medicine
Original Article

Silibinin Effect on Methotrexate-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats

1.

Department of Pediatrics, Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya, Turkey

2.

Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya, Turkey

3.

Department of Physiology, Abant İzzet Baysal University Faculty of Medicine, Bolu, Turkey

4.

Department of Pathology, Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya, Turkey

5.

Department of Microbiology, Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya, Turkey

6.

Department of Biochemistry, Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya, Turkey

7.

Department of Pharmacology, Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya, Turkey

Eurasian J Med 2022; 54: 264-269
DOI: 10.5152/eurasianjmed.2022.20371
Read: 1212 Downloads: 519 Published: 01 October 2022

Objective: Hepatotoxicity is one of the major side effects of methotrexate and limits its use. In this study, we investigated the hepatoprotective effect of silibinin and the role of oxidative stress markers and cytokines on high-dose methotrexate-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

Materials and Methods: In this study, rats were randomly divided into 5 groups (n=7). Methotrexate (20 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) was administered on the first day in all groups except control. Silibinin was injected for 5 days to methotrexate–silibinin25, methotrexate–silibinin50, and methotrexate–silibinin100 groups at a dose of 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day, respectively. On the sixth day, blood and liver samples were obtained and rats were sacrificed. Serum total antioxidant capacity, total oxidant status, total thiol, native thiol, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate transaminase, bilirubin, albumin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-10 levels were measured. In addition, a histopathological evaluation of liver tissues was performed.

Results: Methotrexate reduced total antioxidant capacity and increased disulfide/total thiol ratio. Histopathologic examination revealed that methotrexate increased hepatic damage and 50 mg/kg/dose of silibinin prevented inflammatory cell infiltration in particular.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that silibinin (50 mg/kg/day) may reduce the hepatic damage in methotrexate-induced hepatotoxicity in rats by increasing antioxidant capacity.

Cite this article as: Yanaşoğlu E, Büyükavcı M, Çetinkaya A, et al. Silibinin effect on methotrexate-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Eurasian J Med., 2022;54(3):264-269.

Files
EISSN 1308-8742