Background: Carvacrol (2-methyl-5-(1-methylethyl)-phenol) is a predominant monoterpenic phenol which occurs in many essential oils of the family
Labiatae including
Origanum
,
Satureja
,
Thymbra
,
Thymus
, and
Corydothymus
species. It is well known for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and
antitumor activities. The present study investigates the influence of carvacrol on CYP2E1 and PPAR-α on D-Galactosamine (D-GalN)-induced
hepatotoxic rats.
Materials and Methods: The mRNA and protein expression levels of CYP2E1 and PPAR-α have been assayed by semi-quantitative reverse
transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis.
Result: The result demonstrated that the mRNA and protein expressions of CYP2E1(
p=0.012;
p=0.015) significantly up-regulated while the mRNA
and protein expressions of PPAR-α (
p=0.026;
p=0.03) significantly down-regulated on D-galactosamine induced hepatotoxic rats and treatment with
carvacrol significantly suppressed the mRNA and protein (CYP2E1,
p=0.010;
p=0.011) (PPAR-α,
p=0.033;
p=0.037) expressions of these genes.
Conclusion: Thus, the present results have shown that carvacrol has the hepatoprotective effect and also alleviates liver damage associated with GalN
induced hepatotoxic rats by down-regulating the CYP2E1 and up-regulating the PPAR-α expression.
