Abstract
Background/aim:
To evaluate the potential protective effects of Boric Acid (BA) in experimental cholestatic liver ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury model.
Materials and methods:
The study included 24 female rats which were divided into 3 groups each containing 8 rats. The control group (Group 1) only received laparotomy. In the IR group (Group 2) biliary tract ligation was applied and 1 week later 45 minutes ischemia and 1 hour reperfusion with relaparotomy without any treatment was implemented. In the treatment BA+IR group (Group 3). 1 week after the biliary ligation intraperitoneal administration of 200 mg/kg BA was given 10 minutes before the ischemia for 45 minutes and reperfusion for 1 hour with relaparotomy. Liver tissue and blood samples were taken for histopathological and biochemical examination. Ischemia modified albumin (IMA), SCUBE1, total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS) levels were also examined.
Results:
Compared to control, groups IR and BA+IR had higher serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), total and direct bilirubin levels. Albumin value was high in the control group and low in the other groups. In terms of IMA levels there was no significant difference between groups (p>0.05). When SCUBE-1 levels were examined groups IR and BA+IR were significantly higher than the group 1. TAS was highest in the group BA+IR whereas TOS was highest in the group IR and lower in the group BA+IR. In histopathological analysis, loss of intercellular border loss in hepatocytes, diffuse nuclear pycnosis and mild to moderate neutrophilic cell infiltration were observed in the IR group. Statisticaly significant dissociation, hemorrhage and severe neutrophilic cell infiltration were seen in hepatocytes of rats with IR (p<0.05).
Conclusion:
BA has promising results in the treatment of experimental IR injury of the cholestatic liver because of its antioxidant effects. It may be used in clinical practice after more extensive studies about the effects of BA on IR injury of the cholestatic liver.
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