Hepatoprotective effects of almond oil against carbon tetrachloride induced liver injury in rats

This research aimed at evaluating the protective effects of almond oil against acute hepatic injury induced by carbon tetrachloride in rats. The study results showed that animals received almond oil prior to the administration of CCl4 significantly decreased serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities, and total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) content, and increased serum high density lipoprotein (HDL) content. Whereas, pre-treatment with almond oil markedly increased rat hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels, and decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) level. These results combined with liver histopathology demonstrated that almond oil has potent hepatoprotective effects, and could be developed as a functional food for the therapy and prevention of liver damage.