Potential recruiting and hepatoprotective effects of ellagic acid in D-galactosamine-induced liver damage in rats

The present study aims to investigate the therapeutic and protective effects of ellagic acid (ea) on the toxicity of the liver induced by d-galactosamine (d-gain) in rats. with this in mind,the rats were categorized into five groups. the study groups were given saline,0.2 % dimethyl sulfoxide,d-gain,ea plus d-gain and d-gain plus ea,respectively. in the group given d-gain,the following transmission electron microscopic and light microscopic results were found: degenerative changes in the liver tissue,significant decreased in the number of activated bcl-2,while increased in the number of bax and caspase- 3-positive hepatocytes,a significantly increase in levels of the activities of biochemistry markers (serum alanine transaminase (alt),aspartate transaminase (ast) and alkaline phosphatase (alp)). in contrast,in the groups given d-gain and ea,a decrease in the damage of the liver tissue,a significant decrease activated bax and caspase-3-positive hepatocytes,while increase in the number of bcl-2 positive hepatocytes,a decrease in the biochemistry markers levels were found. group 4,given ea before d-gain,showed better results when compared to group 5,given ea after d-gain,in terms of histopathological and biochemical values. in conclusion,ea might play an important role in repairing d-gain-induced liver damage both as a protective and a therapeutic agent. copyright 2017 zoological society of pakistan.