Acute Toxicity Screening and Hepatoprotective Potentials of Ethanol Seed Extract of Persea americana on Doxorubicin-Induced Male Wistar Rats

Abstract

Doxorubicin is an effective anticancer drug, but its clinical use may be limited by tissue toxicity, including liver injury. This study evaluated the acute toxicity profile and possible hepatoprotective effect of ethanol seed extract of Persea americana in doxorubicin-induced male Wistar rats. Acute toxicity screening was conducted using oral doses ranging from 10 to 5000 mg/kg body weight. For the hepatoprotective study, thirty-six male Wistar rats were divided into six groups. Group A served as the normal control, while Group B received doxorubicin at 4 mg/kg body weight intraperitoneally once weekly for five weeks. Group C received doxorubicin and vitamin E at 100 mg/kg body weight on alternate days. Groups D, E and F received doxorubicin and ethanol seed extract of P. americana at 400, 800 and 1200 mg/kg body weight, respectively, on alternate days. At the end of the treatment period, blood samples were collected, and serum activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase were determined. No mortality or observable signs of acute toxicity were recorded at the tested extract doses up to 5000 mg/kg body weight. Doxorubicin administration increased serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activities compared with the normal control group. Co-administration of vitamin E or the ethanol seed extract reduced aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities compared with the doxorubicin-only group. However, alkaline phosphatase activity did not differ significantly among the doxorubicin-treated groups, although it was significantly lower in the normal control group. These findings suggest that ethanol seed extract of P. americana may reduce serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities associated with doxorubicin-induced hepatocellular injury in male Wistar rats.