Combined administration of silymarin and vitamin C stalls acetaminophen-mediated hepatic oxidative insults in Wistar rats

Oxidative insult by free radicals has been implicated in drug-induced hepatic damage and this has resulted in frequent episodes of liver disorders. Therapeutic efficacy of antioxidants may provide a possible solution to this menace. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of combined administration of silymarin and vitamin C in rescuing acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Hepatotoxic rats were orally administered with silymarin and vitamin C at 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight, respectively. At the end of the experiment, liver function indices, antioxidant parameters and histological analysis were evaluated. We observed that the significantly increased (p < 0.05) activities of alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, as well as levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and serum total bilirubin, were markedly reduced following co-administration of silymarin and vitamin C. The compounds also effectively reversed the reduced activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase and total protein concentration in the hepatotoxic rats. These findings are indicative of hepatoprotective and antioxidant attributes of the two compounds which are also supported by the histological analysis. The available evidences in this study suggest that the complementary effects of silymarin and vitamin C proved to be capable of ameliorating acetaminophen-mediated hepatic oxidative damage and the probable mechanism is via antioxidative action