Pretreatment with Naringenin ameliorates bile duct ligation induced injuries in male rats

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is known to be a complex neurological syndrome. Former studies have shown that Naringenin (NG) can be beneficial for neurological impairments. Examples of these impairments are memory loss and motor dysfunction. In the present study,we have investigated the effects of NG on neuronal injures in bile duct-ligated rats. The male rats were divided into three groups including sham, bile duct ligation (BDL), and BDL + NG in a random manner. Behavioral, biochemical and histological studies were carried out for the purpose of evaluating neural damages. The results indicate that, BDL led to balance impairment and rise in the hepatic enzymes. NG had a preserving role in the treated group. Furthermore, NG pretreatment showed a decline in the neuronal injury in BDL + NG compared to the BDL group. The results showed that NG can have beneficial effects in the rat model of HE. This might be due to the anti-oxidant, estrogenic and anti-inflammatory properties of NG. Further studies are required in order to elucidate the precise mechanism.