Abstract
Both phytic acid (PA) and catechin (CA) are well known antioxidants of natural origin. They were frequently tried on experimental level as hepatoprotectants, relying only on their antioxidant properties. The present study was conducted mainly to outline the other biochemical pathways underlying the hepatotherapeutic potential of both drugs and to check a possible synergistic action if prescribed concomitantly. As both materials are frequently taken on a daily basis in food and drinks, it will be helpful to pursue their possible utility and/or to check if their value is really of medical importance. For this purpose, CCl4 was used as a hepatotoxin, we evaluated plasma total sialic acid (TSA), serum ascorbic acid (AA) levels, liver tissue thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) as a marker for lipid peroxidation and total protein (TP) content as a rough marker to measure hepatic synthetic capability in 80 male Wistar rats as experimental models. Animals were classified into 8 groups (10 rats each), the first as control, the second as PA treated (0.3 mg kg -1), orally, the third as CA treated (30 mg kg -1), intraperitoneally, the fourth given both drugs, as a single daily dose for 2 weeks. The same design was repeated 24 hours after CCl4-intoxication (1mL kg -1), intraperitoneally, as a single dose.The results revealed that both PA and CA when used individually, significantly down-regulated TSA in both physiologic (no CCl4 treatment) and pathologic (CCl4-intoxication) states accompanied by significant decrease in lipoperoxidation. The therapeutic action against TSA and the antioxidant power were abolished by co-administration of both drugs. AA was only decreased by PA and the combination in the physiologic state. Both PA and CA showed significant therapeutic effect for protein synthesis against CCl4-intoxication, but the combination abolished this effect. We conclude that both drugs can be considered as a chemotherapeutic against hepatopathies and we for the first time contraindicate the concomitant use of both drugs.