Impact of Garlic and Curcumin on the Hepatic Histology and Cytochrome P450 Gene Expression of Aflatoxicosis Oreochromis niloticus Using RT-PCR

Aflatoxin B-1 is one of the most important mycotoxins due to its hepatotoxic and carcinogenic effects on some fishes. This study was conducted to investigate the defensive role of curcumin and garlic on phase I of the biotransformation system in the liver of aflatoxicosis in Oreochromis niloticus in relation to the therapeutic properties by studying hepatic histopathology and cytochrome P450-CYP1A gene expression using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Although varieties of methods have been used for gene expression quantification and are still used today, real-time RT-PCR method has achieved prominence in recent years. One hundred and eighty (180) fish were equally divided into 10 groups. T-1 was the negative control; fish in T-2 were injected intraperitonealy (IP) with AFB(1) at a rate of 6 mg kg(-1) B.W. and fed on a basal diet. Groups T-3-T-6 were fed with garlic (T-3 & T-4) and curcumin (T-5 & T-6) at 10 & 20 g kg(-1) diet, respectively. Groups T-7-T-10 injected IP with AFB(1) and fed on both garlic and curcumin at the different concentrations (10 & 20 g kg(-1) diet). AFB(1) reduced the HSI values in aflatoxicosis fish. Feeding a low dose of garlic led to significant improvement in the HSI values. Histologically, hepatic lesions were observed in the AFB(1) injected groups; damage was reduced when fish were fed on garlic and curcumin diets at a concentration 10 g kg(-1). The highest induction of CYP1A expression was observed in the curcumin groups followed by AFB(1). The over expression of CYP1A in T-2 was alleviated by the garlic. Therefore, it was found that garlic enhances the detoxification of AFB(1) through the suppression of CYP1A in the liver.