Toxicopathological Effects of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on the Liver Function and Preventive Role of Silymarin In vivo

Abstract

The zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) are used in cosmetics and skincare products, and as drug delivery
systems. Because of their natural and therapeutic dangers, high attention was given to the toxicity of
nanoparticles. This experiment was designed to study the pathological influences of ZnONPs on the liver
function parameters of rats, and to explore the protective action of Silymarin (SIL) against liver function
disturbances of rats induced by ZnONPs. In our study, (24) albino rats were divided into (4) groups, (6)
rats for each and used. The control animals included rats without treatment, while the ZnONPs group rats
received 50 mg/kg of ZnONPs for 28 days. In the ZnONPs+SIL group, rats were co-administered with
a combination of ZnONPs at a 50mg/kg dose with SIL at a 100 mg/kg dose for 28 days. The SIL group
animals were treated with 100 mg/kg of SIL for 28 days. All the animals were sacrificed and blood samples
were obtained by cardiac puncture in the end of the experiments. The levels of biochemical parameters
(hepatic enzymes) including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline
phosphatase (ALP) were measured to detect liver function disorders. The results revealed that ZnONPs
induced a significant increase in plasma enzyme activity in comparison to the control group (p<0.05). Cotreatment of SIL significantly reduced levels of these enzyme activities. Based on these results, it can be said
that Silymarin effectively protects against ZnONPs induced liver function disorders in rats.