The protective effect of grape seed and Ginkgo biloba against hepatotoxicity induced by the antidysrhythmic drug “amiodarone” in male albino rats

Amiodarone was an orally effective antiarrhythmic drug widely used throughout the world, had long-term administration side effects such as hepatotoxicity. The actions of two antioxidants; grape seed and Ginkgo biloba on the extent of tissue damage in amiodarone-induced hepatotoxicity were elucidated in this study. We equally divided thirty-six albino rats into six groups given doses by gastric tube daily for 8 weeks as follow; the 1st group (G1) served as an untreated control group under the same laboratory conditions and was given distilled water, the 2nd group (G2) grape seed-treated group that received (100 mg/kg/day), the 3rd group (G3) Ginkgo biloba-treated group that received (100 mg/kg/day), the 4th group (G4) amiodarone-treated group that received (40 mg/kg/day), the 5th group (G5) received amiodarone parallel with grape seed at the same time and the 6th group (G6) received amiodarone parallel with Ginkgo biloba at the same time. The current histological study revealed that amiodarone caused marked change in the liver including degeneration, proliferation of bile duct, inflammatory cells infiltration and fatty changes of hepatocytes in addition to deposition of collagen fibers in the hepatic tissue moreover, ultra-structural observations in the liver including vacuolation, fibrosis and pyknotic nuclei. In addition, histochemical study revealed depletion of glycogen and comet assay revealed marked of DNA damage.Treatment with the two used antioxidants reduced the extent of liver damage induced by amiodarone as indicated by decreased Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities. These antioxidants ameliorated the histopathological, histochemical and ultrastructure alternations of the liver tissue. In conclusion, grape seed was markedly effective than Ginkgo biloba in protecting rats against amiodarone. Keywords: Amiodarone, Grape seed, Ginkgo biloba, Comet assay, Hepatotoxicity, Histopathology, Ultrastructur