The Influence of Triterpenoids in the Composition of Fat-Containing Products on the State of the Liver of Laboratory Animals with Acute Toxic Hepatitis.

One of the principles of prevention and non-drug treatment of liver diseases, including hepatitis of various etiologies, is the normalization of the diet, including the use of daily diet foods with physiologically active ingredients, in particular betulin, which helps to reduce metabolic and oxidative processes within liver cells. The aim of the work was to evaluate the in vivo effect of triterpene alcohol betulin Roth isolated from the bark of birch Betula pendula Roth. added to fat-containing products (for example, mayonnaise) on the biochemical parameters of blood and the morphological structure of the liver of rats with initiated acute toxic hepatitis.

Materials and methods: The composition of mayonnaise (67% fat) was developed with the addition of 0.2% betulin solution in vegetable oil in an amount of 6%. The hepatoprotective activity of betulin in mayonnaise samples was studied on a model of toxic hepatitis initiated by carbon tetrachloride in male Wistar rats. Disturbance of metabolic and oxidative processes in the liver cells of animals was assessed by biochemical parameters of blood plasma and the enzyme activity of the liver sample. The effect of experimental samples of mayonnaise with betulin on the morphological structure of the liver of rats with toxic hepatitis was evaluated by microscopy of prepared sections of liver tissue.

Results: The preventive efficacy of betulin in mayonnaise was confirmed in an in vivo experiment: its administration weakens the hepatotoxic effect of carbon tetrachloride, as indicated by a significant decrease in the activity of ALT, AST, and alkaline phosphatase enzymes in the blood plasma of animals MG-1 compared with the blood of rats CG-2-ALT by 22.1%, AST by 21.9%, and alkaline phosphatase by 42.5%. A 13.9% decrease in GGT activity in MG-1 animals indicates a more intensive nitrogen metabolism with a decrease in the level of hepatocyte cytolysis compared to animals of the experimental MG-2 group. It was shown that the introduction of mayonnaise with betulin in a dose of 1 ml into the diet of animals, which corresponds to 35 mg of betulin, prevented the development of cytolytic syndrome and suppressed peroxidation by direct neutralization of free radicals.

Conclusions: The experiment showed a significant decrease in cholesterol, glucose, and enzyme activity of the liver sample and normalization of albumin and triglyceride concentrations in animals of the experimental group in comparison with similar indices in the control group. Betulin in mayonnaise contributed to the antioxidant protection of the body, expressed in the effect on the activity of antioxidant enzymes that are involved in the destruction of organic peroxides, especially lipid peroxides, disturbing the integrity of cell membranes.