World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

THE ANTIOXIDANT EFFECT OF VITAMIN E PRETREATMENT AGAINST ACETAMINOPHEN-INDUCED TOXICITY IN ALBINO RATS

*Bartimaeus E. S., Waribo H. A., Nduka N. and Nwanjo H. U.

ABSTRACT

Acetaminophen usually recommended for the treatment of fever, headache and other pains and possess the ability to generate free radicals capable of causing variety of liver diseases and disorders. The study was designed to determine the anti-oxidant effect of vitamin E pretreatment against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats. A total of 40 male and female albino rats weighing between 80-120g were used.They were divided into 4 groups. Group 1 serving as the control received distilled water only, group 2 as the toxicity control received distilled water and intoxicated with 800mg acetaminophen intraperitoneally, group 3 was pretreated with low dose 25mg/kg of vitamin E and 800mg acetaminophen whie group 4 was pretreated with high dose 50mg/kg vitamin E and 800mg acetaminophen by oral gavage. The testing involved pretreatment with Vitamin E for 7 and 28 days, then intraperitoneal administration of the acetaminophen on the 8th and 29th day. Five out of the 10 animals in each group were sacrificed on the 8th day while others were further subjected to the pretreatment for (21 days) before they were intoxicated with acetaminophen, and sacrificed under chloroform anesthesia. The antioxidants malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were dtermined using standard procedures. Comparison of the levels of the antioxidants shows that the administration of acetaminophen induced a significant decrease (p<0.05) in MDA and significant increase in CAT, SOD and GPX levels in the albino rats treated for 7 and 28 days in all the groups. In the groups pre-treated with vitamin E, significant decrease (p<0.05) in MDA and increase in CAT, SOD and GPX was observed. The liver of pre-treated rats showed recovering cellular matrix and emerging canaliculi, filled portal tract with cells such as erythroid, myeloid, immune cells and kupffer cells which are evidence of the protective antioxidant and hepatoprotective potentials of vitamin E. This finding suggest that vitamin E can be used as a safe, cheap, and effective chemopreventive and protective agent in the management of liver diseases especially in acetaminophen over dosage.

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