Evaluation of hepatoprotective effect of Trametes gibbosa on CCl4-induced liver injury in rats

Mushrooms have been used as medicine by humans for more than 5,000 years. Nowadays, some extracts and compounds obtained from medicinal mushrooms have increased a great prospect of treating many disorders by having a great role in modulation of immune system, cancer inhibiting, cardio-vascular health, antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant and protective effects against hepatitis and diabetes. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant effect of methanol and hot water extract of the Trametes gibbosa (Pers.) Fr. mushroom and hepatoprotective effect of the extract with the most radical scavenging potency. To assess the antioxidant properties of different extracts of the mushroom, DPPH method was used. For assessing the hepatoprotective properties, a seven-day experiment was designed and liver toxicity was induced by carbon tetrachloride (intraperitoneal/ip for seven consecutive days, 0.5 ml/kg BW). Rats were simultaneously fed with aqueous extract of the mushroom with the dose of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg BW and silymarin (100 mg/kg BW) as positive control. At the end of the experiment, major liver factors (e.g., AST, ALT, ALP, bilirubin) were quantified. Tissue samples were obtained for pathological examination. Aqueous extract showed more potent radical scavenging activity (IC50=414.33 µg/ml, compared to 936.92 µg/ml for methanolic extract). Indeed, hepatoprotective properties of the aqueous extract of the mushroom were comparable with those of silymarin and even showed superior protective effects in histopathological examination. It seems that with further complementary studies, T. gibbosa could be considered a potential candidate for hepatoprotection.