The aim of this study was to compare the protective effects of chokeberry juice and silymarin against chemical-induced liver fibrosis in rats. Liver fibrosis was induced by CCl4 administered two days a week for six weeks. Two groups of rats were co-treated with chokeberry juice, 10 mL/kg/day. or silymarin as a positive control, 100 mg/kg/day for six weeks. Hepatic lipid peroxidation was suppressed by 50% and the activity of hepatic antioxidant enzymes was increased by 19%-173% in rats co-treated with CCl4 and substances tested as compared to rats administered CCl4 alone. Hepatic hydroxyproline was decreased by 24% only in rats treated with silymarin. The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of fibrosis-related molecules, procollagen I, α-SMA, TIMP-1, TGFβ, and TNFα, which were significantly increased in the liver of CCl4-treated rats, were not modulated by substances tested. Histological evaluation revealed a slight protective effect of silymarin against fibrosis. However, in CCl4 + chokeberry-treated rats, the density of vacuolated hepatocytes was significantly lower than that in silymarin administered animals. Chokeberry juice did not demonstrate an antifibrotic effect in the applied experimental model of fibrosis, and the effect of the known antifibrotic agent, silymarin, was very limited.
Keywords: chokeberry; liver fibrosis; oxidative stress; silymarin.