Protective effect of some vitamins against the toxic action of ethanol on liver regeneration induced by partial hepatectomy in rats

AIM: To investigate the effects of vitamins (A, C and E)on liver injury induced by ethanol administration duringliver regeneration in rats.METHODS: Male Wistar rats subjected to 70% partialhepatectomy were divided into five groups (groups1-5). During the experiment, animals of Group 1 drankonly water. The other four groups (2-5) drank 30 mL ofethanol/L of water. Group 3 additionally received vitamin A,those of group 4 vitamin C and those of group 5 receivedvitamin E. Subsequently serum alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), albumin andbilirubin were measured colorimetrically. Lipid peroxidation(thiobarbituric-acid reactive substances, TBARS) both inplasma and liver was measured, as well as liver mass gainassessment and total DNA.RESULTS: Compared with sham group, serum ASTand ALT increased significantly under ethanol treatment(43% and 93%, respectively, with P < 0.05). Vitamin Cand vitamin E treatment attenuated the ethanol-inducedincreases in ALT and AST activity. Ethanol treatment also decreased serum albumin concentration compared tosham group (3.1 0.4 g/dL vs 4.5 0.2 g/dL; P < 0.05).During liver regeneration vitamins C and E significantlyameliorated liver injury for ethanol administration inhepatic lipid peroxidation (4.92 nmol/mg and 4.25 nmol/mgvs 14.78 nmol/mg, respectively, with P < 0.05). Inassociation with hepatic injury, ethanol administrationcaused a significant increase in both hepatic andplasma lipid peroxidation. Vitamins (C and E) treatmentattenuated hepatic and plasma lipid peroxidation.CONCLUSION: Vitamins C and E protect against liverinjury and dysfunction, attenuate lipid peroxidation,and thus appear to be significantly more effective thanvitamin A against ethanol-mediated toxic effects duringliver regeneration.