Preventive and Therapeutic Effects of Epicatechin on Acetaminophen-Induced Liver Injury in Mice

Background: Nowadays, the use of over-the-counter drugs such as acetaminophen (APAP) may cause severe liver injury, which can occur not only in high doses but also in therapeutic doses due to nutritional deficiency, alcoholism, or using cytochrome p450 inducers. Objectives: In this study, the protective effect of epicatechin (EPC) was evaluated against APAP-induced hepatotoxicity to find an effective and inexpensive therapy. Methods: The animals were divided into preventive and therapeutic groups. In the preventive study, the animals received EPC (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day) for five days, and the last dose was administered 1 hour before APAP (400 mg/kg). In the therapeutic groups, the animals received EPC just before and 2 hours after the APAP injection. All the animals were killed, and blood and liver samples were taken for further analysis. The liver pathology, enzymes, and oxidant, antioxidant, inflammatory, and anti-inflammatory factors were evaluated. Results: EPC significantly decreased the serum activity level of the liver biomarkers ALT and AST in the APAP-treated mice. Furthermore, the hepatic levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances were noticeably lowered, and the levels of total thiol and catalase activity increased significantly with EPC. Histopathological results were strongly consistent with those of the biochemical estimations. The most effective dose was observed at EPC 100 mg/kg, and the therapeutic groups showed better results than the preventive groups. Conclusions: EPC attenuated the liver toxicity in the mice by suppressing oxidative stress and can be considered a preventive and therapeutic agent for inhibiting and resolving the liver damage induced by APAP.