Fa. Fahim et al., Allied studies on the effect of Rosmarinus officinalis L-on experimental hepatotoxicity and mutagenesis, INT J F S N, 50(6), 1999, pp. 413-427
Citations number
52
Categorie Soggetti
Food Science/Nutrition
Journal title
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCES AND NUTRITION
The hepatoprotective and antimutagenic effects of the rosemary essential oi
l and the ethanolic extract were investigated using carbon tetrachloride an
d cyclophosphamide as hepatotoxic and mutagenic compounds, respectively. Ou
r results revealed that i.g. administration of the rosemary ethanolic extra
ct (0.15 g/100 g BW) to rats for 3 weeks produced the most pronounced hepat
oprotective effect compared to silymarin (reference compound) due to the am
elioration of most of the studied serum and liver parameters and confirmed
by histopathological examination of the liver tissue. Pretreatment of mice
for 7 days with the rosemary essential oil (1.1 mg/g BW) followed by i.p, i
njection with cyclophosphamide reduced significantly the induced mitodepres
sion in the bone marrow cells of the animals. The potential hepatoprotectiv
e and antimutagenic activities of the rosemary ethanolic extract and essent
ial oil, respectively, are attributed to the presence of a relatively high
percentage of phenolic compounds with high antioxidant activity (according
to our chemical studies).