Protective Effect of Chlorogenic Acid against Carbon Tetrachloride-induced Acute Liver Damage in Rats

ObjectiveTo evaluate the protective effect of chlorogenic acid (CGA) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury of rats.MethodsThe anti-oxidative activity of CGA was investigated with several established in vitro systems. The hepatoprotective activity of CGA against CCl4-induced acute liver injury in rats was studied. The levels of alanine aminotranferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and total bilirubin (TB) were measured. The histopathological examination was carried out to supplement the biochemical results.ResultsCGA possessed strong anti-oxidative ability in vitro. The CCl4-induced liver toxicity experiment showed that the rats pretreated with CGA (300 or 500 mg/kg) had lower levels of ALT, AST, ALP, and TB than those of the CCl4-treated group. These data were supplemented with histopathological examination of rat liver sections. CGA did not show any mortality at the dose up to 5000 mg/kg.ConclusionCGA could protect the liver against CCl4-induced oxidative damage in rats, and the possible mechanism of the activity may be due to its free radical-scavenging and anti-oxidative activity.