Investigating the therapeutic effect of sage plant extract on the reduction ofenzymes and liver tissue weight in male rats infected with aflatoxin

Background and Objective: Aflatoxin is one of the secondary metabolites produced by mold fungi suchas Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. These ubiquitous fungi can contaminate many foodproducts including rice, corn, flour, nuts, peanuts, chilies, and spices around the world, especially indeveloping countries. Symptoms of af latoxicosis can be chronic or acute poisoning caused by direct liverdamage and death. In traditional medicine, various plants such as different parts of the sage plant (Salviaofficinalis L.) have been introduced to treat liver disorders. Therefore, the aim of the present study is toevaluate the therapeutic effect of hydromethanolic sage plant extract on reducing enzymes and liver tissueweight in rats poisoned with Aspergillus parasiticus aflatoxin.Methods: In this study, animals were poisoned once a week by intraperitoneal injection of aflatoxin witha concentration of ۴۵۰ μg/kg for ۸ weeks. Also, at the same time as toxin injection, hydromethanolicextract of sage leaves with concentrations of ۲۵, ۵۰, ۱۰۰, ۱۵۰ mg/kg body weight was fed to mice everyday for ۸ weeks.After ۸ weeks, sampling from the heart and liver of animals along with measuring thelevel of serum parameters related to liver enzymes including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartateaminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (AP) and total protein (PT) It was done using the kit.Inaddition, tissue sections were prepared from liver samples and stained with hematoxylin-eosin method.Results: The results showed that the injection of aflatoxin increased the level of serum ALT, AST, andAP enzymes, and decreased the level of serum total protein. Also, it caused an increase in tissue damageand liver coefficient in poisoned rats compared to the healthy control group. While the treatment ofinfected mice with doses of ۲۵, ۵۰, ۱۰۰, especially ۱۵۰ mg/kg of sage extract, caused a significantdecrease in tissue damage, liver index, and serum ALT, AST, and AP levels. However, an increase in thelevel of total protein in the serum of poisoned rats was observed compared to the control group.Conclusion: The results obtained in this study show that the hydromethanolic extract of sage leaves canhave a positive effect on reducing liver damage and inflammation, as well as balancing increased liverenzymes during aflatoxin poisoning

Keywords:

Aflatoxin , Aspergillus parasiticus , Hepatotoxicity , Male Rat , Sage plant (Salvia officinalis)