Ameliorative effect of moringa and rosemary ethanolic extracts on thioacetamide-induced liver fibrosis in rats

Abstract

Background/aim: Nutraceuticals have been extensively studied in recent years to find safe therapeutics of natural origin instead of relying only on pharmaceuticals. This study aimed to detect the hepato-protective role of moringa and rosemary ethanolic extracts on liver fibrosis induced by thioacetamide (TAA). Methods: This study was conducted on 60 male albino rats divided into four groups; control, TAA-group (received 100 mg/kg thioacetamide intraperitoneal twice /week for 18 weeks), moringa-protected group (received 300 mg/kg moringa ethanolic extract orally daily with TAA), rosemary-protected group (received 200 mg/kg rosemary ethanolic extract orally daily with TAA for 18 weeks). Results: There were significant increases in liver alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) with significant decreases in reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the TAA-treated group with a high degree of fibrosis which extended to cirrhosis after 18 weeks. Meanwhile, both TAA-moringa and TAArosemary treated groups showed improvement in biochemical markers and fibrosis induced by TAA. Conclusion: This study proved that both moringa and rosemary could protect the liver against TAA-induced liver fibrosis and rosemary has greater protection than moringa.