Histopathological evaluation of the hepatoprotective effect of Chaenomeles japonica fruit juice in a rat model of paracetamol-induced liver damage
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14748/39qzcf21Keywords:
Chaenomeles japonica, liver, paracetamol, histopathology, ratsAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Species of the genus Chaenomeles have a long history of use in traditional Eastern medicine due to their health-promoting properties.
AIM: The present study aimed to investigate histopathologically the effect of Chaenomeles japonica fruit juice (CJFJ) on the liver in a model of paracetamol (PCM)-induced damage.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Wistar rats (n = 50) were randomly assigned to five groups: Control, PCM, CJFJ2.5+PCM, CJFJ5+PCM, and CJFJ10+PCM. For 12 days, animals were treated with an orogastral tube: the Control and PCM groups received water, while the other three groups received CJFJ at increasing doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 mL/kg, respectively. On the 11th day, PCM (1.0 g/kg) was intraperitoneally injected to the following groups: PCM, CJFJ2.5+PCM, CJFJ5+PCM, and CJFJ10+PCM. On day 13th, liver samples were taken, fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin. Tissue slices were stained with hematoxilin and eosin and observed by light microscopy. The severity of necrosis was assessed using a scoring method.
RESULTS: The liver architecture of the Control group was normal. In the PCM group, centrilobular and bridging necrosis was observed. In the CJFJ2.5+PCM group, the zones affected by necrotic and inflammatory changes were reduced. The medium and the high dose of CJFJ succeed in limiting the PCM-induced liver damage to a higher extent without completely preventing it. The necrosis score was significantly reduced by the three juice doses.
CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrated a dose-dependent hepatoprotective effect of CJFJ that is probably attributed to its high polyphenolic content.
References
[1] Trefts E, Gannon M, Wasserman DH. The liver. Curr Biol, 2017, 27(21): 1147–51. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.019
[2] Bernal W, Wendon J. Acute liver failure. N Engl J Med. 2013;369:2525–34. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1208937. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1208937
[3] Jaeschke H, Mcgill Mr, Ramachandran A. Oxidant stress, mitochondria, and cell death mechanisms in drug-induced liver injury: lessons learned from acetaminophen hepatotoxicity. Drug Metab Rev. 2012;44(1):88-106. doi: 10.3109/03602532.2011.602688. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/03602532.2011.602688
[4] Licata A, Minissale MG, Stankeviciute S, et al. N-Acetylcysteine for preventing acetaminophen-induced liver injury: a comprehensive review. Front Pharmacol. 2024;13:828565. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.828565. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.828565
[5] Służały P, Paśko P, Galanty A. Natural products as hepatoprotective agent - a comprehensive review of clinical trials. Plants. 2024;13(14):1985. doi: 10.3390/plants13141985. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13141985
[6] Domitrović R, Potočnjak I. A comprehensive overview of hepatoprotective natural compounds: mechanism of action and clinical perspectives. Arch Toxicol. 2016;90(1):39-79. doi:10.1007/s00204-015-1580-z. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-015-1580-z
[7] Zhang SY, Han LY, Zhang H, et al. Chaenomeles speciosa: A review of chemistry and pharmacology. Biomed Rep. 2014;2:12-8. doi:10.3892/br.2013.193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2013.193
[8] Huang W, He J, Nisar N M. Phytochemical and pharmacological properties of Chaenomeles speciosa: An edible medicinal Chinese Mugua. 2018;Article ID 9591845, 10 pages. doi:10.1155/2018/9591845. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201812.0063.v1
[9] Hu R, Kuang M, Li N. Phytochemistry and pharmacology of plants in the genus Chaenomeles. Arch Pharm Res. 2023;46(11-120):825–54. doi: 10.1007/s12272-023-01475-w. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-023-01475-w
[10] Watychowicz K, Janda K, Jakubczyk K, et al. Chaenomeles – health promoting benefits
Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig. 2017;68(3):217-27.
[11] Tian HY, Li SB, Zhang LY, et al. Comparative analysis of the two Chaenomeles species on hepatoprotective and modulation of intestinal flora. Tradit Med Res. 2025;10(8):47. doi: 10.53388/TMR20240903004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53388/TMR20240903004
[12] Borisova V, Eftimov M, Valcheva-Kuzmanova S. Biochemical evaluation of liver and kidney function after subchronic administration of Chaenomeles maulei fruit juice to rats. Bulg Chem Commun. 2019;51(Special Issue А):29-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/amb-2019-0006
[13] Valcheva-Kuzmanova S, Denev P, Ognyanov M. Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of Chaenomeles maulei fruit juice. J Biomed Clin Res. 2018;11(1):41-8. doi: 10.2478/jbcr-2018-0007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jbcr-2018-0007
[14] Avraham Y, Zolotarev O, Grigoriadis NC, et al. Cannabinoids and capsaicin improve liver functionfollowing thioacetamide-induced acute injury in mice. Am J Gastroenterol. 2008 Dec;103(12):3047-56. doi: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2008.02155.x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1572-0241.2008.02155.x
[15] Ramachandran A, Jaeschke H. Acetaminophen Hepatotoxicity. Semin Liver Dis. 2019;39(2):221–34. doi: 10.1055/s-0039-1679919. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0039-1679919
[16] Baranowska-Bosiacka I, Bosiacka B, Rast J, et al. Macro- and microelement content and other properties of Chaenomeles japonica L. fruit and protective effects of its aqueous extract on hepatocyte metabolism. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2017;178:327–37. doi:10.1007/s12011-017-0931-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-017-0931-4
[17] Andres C, Perez de la Lastra J, Juan C, et al. Polyphenols as antioxidant/pro-oxidant compounds and donors of reducing species: relationship with human antioxidant metabolism. Processes. 2023;11:2771. doi: 10.3390/pr11092771. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11092771
[18] Bas T. Dietary polyphenols (flavonoids) derived from plants for use in therapeutic health: antioxidant performance, ROS, molecular mechanisms, and bioavailability limitations. Int J Mol Sci. 2026;27(3):1404. doi: 10.3390/ijms27031404. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27031404
[19] Machado I F, Miranda R G, Dorta D J, et al. Targeting oxidative stress with polyphenols to fight liver diseases. Antioxidants. 2023;12:1212. doi: 10.3390/antiox12061212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox12061212
[20] Alkinani KB, Ali EM, Al-Shaikh TM, et al. Hepatoprotective effects of (−) epicatechin in CCL4-induced toxicity model are mediated via modulation of oxidative stress markers in rats. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021;Article ID 4655150, 12. doi: 10.1155/2021/4655150. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/4655150
[21] Koonyosying P, Tharanon W, Pairojthanachai K, et al. Green tea catechins mitigate hepatocyte ferroptosis through attenuation of oxidative stress and improvement of antioxidant systems. Antioxidants. 2025;14(12):1483. doi:10.3390/antiox14121483. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox14121483
[22] Ansari M, Dubey N, Ganeshpurkar A. Hepatoprotective potential of vanillic acid against isoniazid-rifampicin-induced liver toxicity. Asp Mol Med. 2025;5:100087. doi: 10.1016/j.amolm.1015.100087. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amolm.2025.100087
[23] Li X, Yang YB, Yang Q, et al. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of Chaenomeles speciosa fractions in laboratory animals. J Med Food. 2009;12(5):1016-22. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2008.1217. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2008.1217
[24] Liao J, Lu Q, Li Z, et al. Acetaminophen-induced liver injury: molecular mechanism and treatments from natural products. Front Pharmacol. 2023;14:1122632.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1122632. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2023.1122632
Downloads
Published
Data Availability Statement
The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
