Effect of antioxidant treatment on fibrogenesis in rats with carbon tetrachloride-induced cirrhosis.

Aim. This study aimed to assess the antioxidant activity of quercetin (Q) in an experimental model of cirrhosis induced by CCl(4) inhalation. Materials and Methods. We used 25 male Wistar rats (250 g) that were divided into 3 groups: control (CO), CCl(4), and CCl(4) + Q. The rats were subjected to CCl(4) inhalation (2x/week) for 16 weeks, and they received phenobarbital in their drinking water at a dose of 0.3 g/dL as a P450 enzyme inducer. Q (50 mg/Kg) was initiated intraperitoneally at 10 weeks of inhalation and lasted until the end of the experiment. Statistical analysis was by ANOVA Student Newman-Keuls (mean ± SEM), and differences were considered statistically significant when P < 0.05. Results. After treatment with quercetin, we observed an improvement in liver complications, decreased fibrosis, as analyzed by picrosirius for the quantification of collagen, and decreased levels of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) compared with the CCl(4) group. It also reduced oxidative stress, as confirmed by the decrease of substances reacting to thiobarbituric acid (TBARS), the increased activity of antioxidant enzymes, and the reduced glutathione ratio and glutathione disulfide (GSH/GSSG). Conclusion. We suggest that the use of quercetin might be promising as an antioxidant therapy in liver fibrosis.