The effects of silibinin on liver healing in an experimental model of blunt liver trauma in rats

The Effects of Silibinin on Liver Healing in an Experimental Model of Blunt Liver Trauma in Rats Background: Trauma is one of the most common causes of death in young people, the third most common cause of death independent of age, and is an important public health problem. Non-operative management of liver injury, which is common in blunt abdominal trauma, has recently become the standard procedure for eligible patients. Agents that may have a positive effect on the morbidity rate and liver recovery are a subject of research. Aim: In our study, we aimed to examine the possible positive and protective effects of silibinin, which has healing effects on the liver in various diseases, on liver healing in an experimental blunt liver trauma model. Methods: 24 Wistar Albino rats with an average weight of 250-300 g were used. The rats were randomly divided into three equal groups as Groups I-II and III. Group I; control group, trauma was not applied, standard nutrition was given. Localized trauma model to the right upper quadrant was applied to Groups II and III under general anesthesia. Group II; The trauma group was followed up with standard nutrition. Group III; The trauma-silibinin group was given 100 mg/kg/day silibinin by gastric lavage for five days in addition to the standard diet. After five days of follow-up, blood samples were taken from the vena cava, the subjects were sacrificed and their livers were explanted for pathological evaluation. ALT and AST were studied in blood samples. The degree of inflammation was scored by histopathological examination of the liver tissue. Results: We found a statistically significant relationship in the distribution of mean AST and ALT values between groups (p<0.001). We did not find a significant difference on inflammation scores in between the traumatic groups (Groups II and III) (p=0.115). However, we found a close to statistically significant relationship in the distribution of the total values of inflammation scores according to the groups (p=0.057). Conclusion: We conclude that Silibinin has positive effects on damage limitation and liver healing in the blunt liver trauma model created in rats. Keywords: Healing, Liver, Trauma, Blunt, Silibinin, Silibin