Prophylactic and Curative Effects of Thymoquinone against CCL4-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats

Background: Natural products from medicinal plants such as thymoquinone (TQ), the major compound derived from Nigella sativa L. Which has received considerable attention in recent years due to its diverse pharmacological properties, including antioxidant and anti inflammatory activities? The aim of this study is the investigation of prophylactic and curative effects of TQ against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity in male albino rats.

Materials and Methods: Hepatotoxicity was induced in rats by intraperitoneal administration of 3 ml/kg, 1:1 (V/V) mixture of CCl4 and olive oil both before and after treatment for 7 days with TQ. Prophylactic and curative effects of TQ were evaluated by estimating the activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP).

Results: CCl4 administering by intraperitoneal injection led to significant (P<0.05) increase in serum transaminases (ALT and AST) and phosphatase (ALP) respectively compared with control animals. Thymoquinone showed significant (p<0.05) hepatoprotective activity by decreasing the activities of ALT, AST, ALP in both prophylactic and curative effects. These results revealed that thymoquinone possesses significant hepatoprotective and hepatocurative effects against CCl4-induced toxicity via its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities but the hepatocurative effect was the most effective.

Conclusion: Thymoquinone is a compound known for its pharmacological proprieties. We illustrated in this work, its important effect against hepatotoxicity induced by a toxic agent as CCL4 when it’s administrated in prophylactic or curative way.