title: Milk thistle impedes the development of carbontetrachloride-induced liver damage in rats through suppression of bcl-2 and regulating caspase pathway.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to examine whether MT plays a protective role against the damage in the liver by administering carbontetrachloride (CCl4) to rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  28 male Wistar albino (n=28, 8weeks old) rats have been used in the study. The rats were distributed into 4 groups according to their live weights. The groups were: (i) negative control (NC): normal water consuming group to which no CCl4 and milk thistle (MT) is administered; (ii) positive control (PC): normal water consuming group to which no CCl4 is administered but MT is administered; (iii) CCl4 group: normal water consuming and group to which CCl4 is administered (2ml/kg live weight, ip); and (iv) CCl4+MT group: CCl4 and MT administered group (2ml/kg live weight, ip). Caspase-3, caspase-9, bax, and bcl-2 protein syntheses were examined via western blotting. MDA determination in liver tissue was made using spectrophotometer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MDA amount has decreased in the CCl4+MT group in comparison to CCl4 group whereas caspase-3 and caspase-9 has increased and bax and bcl-2 has decreased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results show that MT protects the liver against oxidative damage.
authors.affiliation: Firat University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Elazığ, Turkey. Electronic address: aaslan@firat.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.affiliation: Aksaray University, Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Aksaray, Turkey. Electronic address: is_mail_can@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Muhammed İsmail
authors.initials: Mİ
authors.lastname: Can
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000633:toxicity*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D053453:Caspase 9 / Q000378:metabolism; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D020944:Silybum marianum / Q000737:chemistry*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride; D053148:Caspase 3; D053453:Caspase 9
keywords: Bax; Bcl-2; Caspase-3; Caspase-9; Liver damage; Milk thistle