The Hepatoprotective Effects of Corn Silk against Dose-induced Injury of Ecstasy (MDMA) Using Isolated Rat Liver Perfusion System

Background: corn silk (cs) is widely used in iranian traditional medicine. the aim of this study was to investigate hepatoprotective activity of cs by isolated rat liver perfusion system (irlp). methods: hydro-alcoholic extract of corn silk (10, 20, 40, and 100 mg kg-1) was evaluated for its hepatoprotective activity by irlp. phenol and flavonoid contents of the extract were determined as gallic acid and quercetin equivalents from a calibration curve, respectively.irlp system is ideal for studying biochemical alterations of chemicals with minimum neuro-hormonal effects. in this study, the liver was perfused with kerbs-henseleit buffer, containing different concentration of hydro-alcoholic extract of corn silk (10, 20, 40, 50,100mg/kg), added to the buffer, and perfused for 2 hours. during the perfusion, many factors, including amino-transferees activities and the level of gsh, were assessed as indicators of liver viability. consequently, sections of liver tissues were examined for any histopathological changes. results: histopathological changes in liver tissues were related to hydro-alcoholic extract of corn silk concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. also, 50 and 100mg/kg doses caused significant (p < 0.05) histopathological changes. level of gsh in samples perfused with hydro-alcoholic extract increased compared to the control group. conclusion: hepatoprotective effect of cs is due to decreased lipid peroxidation, although other mechanisms might also be involved.