Grape compound in red wine may help heal liver injury

Washington, Dec 24 (ANI): Scientists have found that resveratrol can act as a potential therapeutic drug for ischemia/reperfusion related liver injury.

Hepatic injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) has been proposed as a key clinical problem associated with liver transplantation and major liver surgery.

Resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes and is a constituent of red wine.

Reperfusion injury is characterised by the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radical.

Resveratrol has been reported to have several biologic effects such as a potent antioxidative effect via prevention of lipid peroxidation.

Researchers led by Ercan Gedik from Turkey used biochemical and histological parameters to evaluate the possible protective effect of resveratrol against I/R-induced hepatic injury.

The study was conducted on a total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 240-290 g and they were randomized into four groups of ten- controls: data from unmanipulated animals; sham group: rats subjected to the surgical procedure, except for liver I/R, and given saline; I/R group: rats underwent liver ischemia for 45 min followed by reperfusion for 45 minutes; I-R/Resveratrol group: rats pretreated with resveratrol.

The researcher studied serum liver enzymes and histological changes in all the groups.

They found that Plasma aminotransferase activities were higher in the I/R group than in the I-R/Resveratrol group.

Also, the researchers observed that Malondialdehyde levels and the hepatic injury score decreased, while superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase levels increased in group 4 compared to group 3.

In group 4, histopathological changes were significantly attenuated in resveratrol treated livers.

The results indicated that resveratrol has protective effects against hepatic I/R injury, and is a potential therapeutic drug for ischemia reperfusionrelated liver injury

The study was published in a recent issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology. (ANI)