Temporal changes in hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities after ischemia and reperfusion in a rat liver ischemia model: Effect of dietary fish oil

This study investigated the hypothesis that administration of tilapia fish oil diet would attenuate warm liver ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) and whether fish oil modulates prooxidant/antioxidant status. Male Wistar rats were subjected to 30 min of approximately 70% hepatic ischemia followed by 1, 12, and 24 h reperfusion. Rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham-operated group (SO), control-warm hepatic ischemia (WI) group, and Oil-WI group given tilapia oil for 3 weeks followed by liver IRI. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine anninotransferase (ALT) levels were measured in the plasma. Levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and antioxidant enzymes as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were measured in liver fractions. In the sham group, there was no enzymatic or histological change. I/R caused significant increase in serum AST, ALT, and tissue TBARS levels. As compared to the control group, animals treated with tilapia oil experienced a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in AST and ALT levels in reperfusion periods. Tissue TBARS levels in Oil-WI group were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced as compared to control group at 60 min after reperfusion. After ischemia, 1, 12, and 24 h of reperfusion, CAT, SOD, and GPx values were the lowest in the Oil-WI group and highest in the control group and were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Histological analysis also revealed that fish oil provided some protection compared with the control group. Tilapia oil exerts a protective effect during the early phase of reperfusion, and it modulates prooxidant/antioxidant status of rat liver subjected to warm IRI.