Hep atop rotective Potentials of Ghrelin and/or N-Acetyl Cysteine in Thioacetamide Induced Chronic Liver Injury in Rats

Background: Ghrelin is a gut hormone that has protective effects on many tissues injury while its role in chronic liver injury (CLI) remains unclear as well as N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) has powerful health benefits derive from its ability to restore intracellular levels of glutathione (GSH), which is the body s most powerful antioxidant. Objective: This study was designed to detect the hepatoprotective potentials of ghrelin or NAC and their combination in thioacetamide (TAA) induced CLI in rats and the possible mechanisms involved. Material and Methods: Forty male rats were divided into five groups: Group I: Control; Group II: Chronic liver injury (CLI); Group III (CLI+Ghrelin); Group IV: (CLI+NAC); Group V: (CLI+Ghrelin+NAC). Liver enzymes, albumin, bilirubin and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) were measured in serum. Nitric oxide (NO), Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase enzyme (GSH-Px) and hydroxyproline were assessed in the liver tissue. Histopathological examinations were also performed for detection of inflammation and fibrosis. Results: Results showed that Ghrelin and NAC significantly decreased liver enzymes, MDA, NO metabolites, bilirubin, hydroxyproline and TNF-a levels with increased GSH-Px and albumin levels. Combination of Ghrelin and NAC leads to more improvement in all parameters reaching the control level. Furthermore histopathological examination showed that Ghrelin has more protective effect on CLI than NAC, while their combination showed the most protective effect. Conclusion: These findings suggested that Ghrelin and NAC have promising hepatoprotective potential against TTA induced chronic liver injury by their anti-oxidant, antiinflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects. As well as Ghrelin has more protective effect than NAC in histopathological examination.