Background/aims: We aimed to investigate the hepatoprotective effects of dihydromyrcenol and geranyl formate extracted from the Vitis vinifera L. plant in a rat model of acute hepatic injury induced by carbon tetrachloride.
Methods: The study was performed on 54 Sprague-Dawley male rats. The animals were divided into 9 study groups with 6 rats in each. At the end of the 7-day study period, the animals were sacrificed. The effects of dihydromyrcenol and geranyl formate on hepatic injury were evaluated based on the comparisons of the changes in the weight, serum levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, and histopathological changes in the liver.
Results: Dihydromyrcenol significantly reduced the carbon tetrachloride-associated ballooning degeneration and apoptotic cell counts; this reduction was moderate with low doses of geranyl formate, while no reductions were observed with high doses of geranyl formate. The changes in the alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels were in accordance with these findings.
Conclusions: It can be concluded that in an experimental model of acute hepatic injury induced by carbon tetrachloride, dihydromyrcenol presents a hepatoprotective effect, while geranyl formate presents partial hepatoprotective effects at low doses and no hepatoprotective effects at high doses.