Abstract:
The present study aims to evaluate the effects of cadmium toxicity in the liver and the efficiency of crude methanolic Syzygium aromaticum bud extracts in alleviating liver damage. Cadmium is a heavy metal that mainly targets the liver upon exposure. Though the exact mechanism of toxicity is still unclear, cadmium is believed to induce the formation of reactive oxygen species which binds to cellular lipids and causes lipid peroxidation. S. aromaticum is reported to have relatively high concentrations of antioxidants which combat reactive oxygen species and subsequently inhibit oxidative damage. Twenty-four adult male mice of BALB/c strain were grouped into four treatment groups. Group I was given only rat chow and water. Group II was treated only with S. aromaticum bud extracts. Group III was treated only with cadmium acetate. Group IV was pretreated with crude methanolic S. aromaticum bud extracts before administration of cadmium acetate. Mice were sacrificed after 30 days and livers were excised. Livers were subjected to histopathological analysis and TBARS assay. Livers in all treatment groups show inflammatory activity. HAI scores among livers indicate no significant difference. The Cd acetate treated group had the highest malondialdehyde concentrations while the control and clove bud extract treated groups were relatively similar in their malondialdehyde concentrations. There is a significant difference between the treatment groups in terms of lipid peroxidation. These findings suggest that the natural antioxidants in clove can offer possible protective effects against Cd-toxicity. However, the histopathological findings did not show the same protective effects in terms of hepatic morphology.
