An in vitro and in vivo hepatotoxicity study of an aspalathin- rich green rooibos extract
type: CreativeWork
description: Hepatotoxicity is an undesirable condition of the liver, often occurring due to the interaction of drugs. Although different methods have been employed in the diagnosis of drug-induced hepatotoxicity, none have accurately proven the hepatotoxic effect of drug-drug interactions or drug-herb interactions. Flavonoids of aspalathin-rich green Rooibos extract (GRT) present many therapeutic properties that reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. However, there is a gap in literature regarding the efficacy or safety of this particular extract on the liver. Furthermore, Rooibos has been implicated in the development of hepatotoxicity which might have been triggered by drug-Rooibos interaction. This study therefore purposes to establish whether consumption of an aspalathin-rich green Rooibos extract (GRT) has any toxic effects on the liver using both an in vitro human liver cell line (C3A) model, as well as a sub-chronic Sprague- Dawley rat model. Cultured C3A cells were treated with different concentrations of GRT ranging from untreated control, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 μg/mL and incubated for 1 hour, 24 hours or 48 hours. Thereafter, cell viability was evaluated using the mitochondrial activity assay 3- [4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphnyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assay. The impact of the GRT extract on enzyme release and membrane integrity was assessed using the adenylate kinase enzyme (AK). For the in vivo study, sub-chronic Sprague Dawley rats were used to investigate the toxicity of different concentrations of GRT extract. The rats were randomly divided into five groups with ten rats per group. Three of these groups were treated daily with different concentrations of GRT extract [10, 100 and 300 mg/kg body weight (bw)] for a period of 90 days, while the other groups were an untreated control and a carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) treated group for induction of hepatotoxicity. Treatments were administered using cubes made of…
abstract: Hepatotoxicity is an undesirable condition of the liver, often occurring due to the interaction of drugs. Although different methods have been employed in the diagnosis of drug-induced hepatotoxicity, none have accurately proven the hepatotoxic effect of drug-drug interactions or drug-herb interactions. Flavonoids of aspalathin-rich green Rooibos extract (GRT) present many therapeutic properties that reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. However, there is a gap in literature regarding the efficacy or safety of this particular extract on the liver. Furthermore, Rooibos has been implicated in the development of hepatotoxicity which might have been triggered by drug-Rooibos interaction. This study therefore purposes to establish whether consumption of an aspalathin-rich green Rooibos extract (GRT) has any toxic effects on the liver using both an in vitro human liver cell line (C3A) model, as well as a sub-chronic Sprague- Dawley rat model. Cultured C3A cells were treated with different concentrations of GRT ranging from untreated control, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 μg/mL and incubated for 1 hour, 24 hours or 48 hours. Thereafter, cell viability was evaluated using the mitochondrial activity assay 3- [4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphnyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assay. The impact of the GRT extract on enzyme release and membrane integrity was assessed using the adenylate kinase enzyme (AK). For the in vivo study, sub-chronic Sprague Dawley rats were used to investigate the toxicity of different concentrations of GRT extract. The rats were randomly divided into five groups with ten rats per group. Three of these groups were treated daily with different concentrations of GRT extract [10, 100 and 300 mg/kg body weight (bw)] for a period of 90 days, while the other groups were an untreated control and a carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) treated group for induction of hepatotoxicity. Treatments were administered using cubes made of…
author: Buthelezi, Ntandoyenkosi Nokuthula
keywords: hepatotoxicity --Rooibos --cytotoxicity --hepatocyte --anti-oxidant --anti inflammation
license: https://devspace.unizulu.ac.za/bitstreams/b7857516-dfd4-4ba2-a7c5-05493f4530a1/download
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:17:22Z
provider: University of Zululand
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Zululand