title: Hepatoprotective Effect and Chemical Assessment of a Selected Egyptian Chickpea Cultivar.
abstract: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. In Egypt, chickpea seeds are usually consumed at raw green and tender stage, or in the form of mature dry seeds. In our previous study, 'Giza 1' seeds exhibited stronger antioxidant activity and higher total phenol content than those from other Egyptian cultivars. In order to assess the biological potential of 'Giza 1' seedsin vivo, the extraction procedure was reproduced here. The extract was standardized using liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to evaluate their hepatoprotective effect on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity in rats and acute toxicity. Administration of the extract to rats in doses up to 2 g/Kg) did not cause any mortalities or observable signs of toxicity. Further, the plant extract showed a strong hepatoprotective activity based on assessing serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase and levels of albumen, globulin, total protein, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and low density lipoprotein. The antioxidative activity was evaluated by assessing hepatic catalase and superoxide dismutase activity as well as reduced glutathione, and malondialdehyde levels. Additionally, anti-inflammatory activity was observed as the extract significantly lowered the hepatic tumor necrosis factor α content. Histopathological examination of liver tissues indicated that the extract-treated animals showed almost normal hepatic architecture with fewer pathological changes. In conclusion, the current results suggest that the chickpea extract possesses an excellent safety profile with very low acute toxicity. Also, it exhibits a significant hepatoprotective effect against CCl4-induced liver injury in rats. This can be attributed, at least partly, to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of the isoflavones and phenolic acids content of the extract.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Egyptian Russian University Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Reham H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Mekky
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Egyptian Russian University Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mostafa R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Fayed
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Egyptian Russian University Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohamed R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: El-Gindi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Azza R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Abdel-Monem
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of GranadaGranada, Spain; Research and Development Functional Food CentreGranada, Spain.
authors.forename: María Del Mar
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Contreras
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of GranadaGranada, Spain; Research and Development Functional Food CentreGranada, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Segura-Carretero
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Essam
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abdel-Sattar
keywords: Cicer arietinum; LD50; antioxidation; chickpea; cytotoxicity; hepatoprotection