Nanoparticles Ellagic Acid Protects Against Cisplatin-induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats Without Inhibiting its Cytotoxic Activity

Background and Objective: Ellagic acid (ELL) is a phenolic constituent of natural sources with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The ELL has a low bio-availability,therefore a nanoparticles (NP ELL) was formulated to determinewhether NP ELL could alleviate cisplatin (CISP)-induced hepatotoxicity in comparison to a high dose of regular ELL. Materials and Methods: The NP ELL was prepared using an emulsion solvent diffusion technique. Hepatotoxicity was induced in rats using CISP (7.5 mg kg(-1)). Rats were pre-treated with either 10 ELL (10 mg kg(-1)), 1 NP ELL (1 mg kg(-1)) or 2 NP ELL (2 mg kg(-1)). Results: All ELL regimens significantly decreased CISP-induced increases in liver enzymes, MDA, NO, TNF-alpha, NFkB and BAX. Additionally, all significantly restored hepatic GSH, GPx, CAT and Bcl-2. Rat's liver showed no injury in all ELL pretreated groups. Importantly, NP ELL did not inhibit the cytotoxic effect CISP against HCT116 cell lines. Conclusion: The NP ELL has improved bio-availability and protected against CISP induced hepatotoxicity. This provides an encouraging way of ameliorating the bio-availability of ELL while sustaining its desirable therapeutic effects.