Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of ethanol extract of Punica granatum L. leaf in association with gallic acid in high-fat diet-induced animal model. Total 30 rats were used. These were divided into 5 groups of 6 animals each. Group 1 was given normal diet and was treated as the control. Group 2 was given a high-fat diet and was considered as a induced group. Groups 3, 4 and 5 were given high-fat diet along with ethanol extract of Punica granatum L. leaf (200 mg/kg), ethanol extract of Punica granatum L. leaf+gallic acid (100+10 mg/kg) and orlistat (22 mg/kg), which constituted the treatment groups. The total period of the study was 8 w. At the end of the study, activities of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total protein, albumin, globulin and albumin/globulin ratio were measured. The antioxidant defense activities like superoxide dismutase, catalase and reduced glutathione were analyzed together with lipid peroxidation in the liver tissue. In addition, histology of liver was examined. The high-fat diet caused alternation in the activities of markers of liver function along with changes in histology of the liver. The high-fat diet increased lipid peroxidation and decreased antioxidant defense system. The alterations induced by the high-fat diet were restored more effectively by the ethanol extract of Punica granatum L. leaf+gallic acid than the ethanol extract of Punica granatum L. leaf alone or orlistat.