Effect of Fructose in Acetaminophen Induced Liver Injury in Rats

Objective: Low dose fructose was used in hepatotoxic rats to assess its hepatoprotective role. The objective of this studywas to assess the effect o f fructose on liver function using enzyme assays and morphologic changes. Study Design: Quasi-Experimental studyPlace and Duration of Study: Departments of Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Pathology, Army Medical College andNational Institute ofHealth from Jan 2007-Jan 2008. Methodology: One hundred and twenty healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected Acetaminophen (APAP) (650mg/kg) to induce acute hepatotoxicity, fructose (1g/kg) and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) (1200 mg/kg) intraperitoneally.Blood samples ware taken after ten hours and serum was separated and centrifuged. Serum alanine aminotranferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase , albumin and total bilirubin were measured using kitmethod. Liver biopsy was taken to observe the necrotic changes. Results: APAP had 200% elevation of serum ALT and AST (p 0.05). Fructose and APAP co-administration (group III)had insignificant effect on serum ALT (p= 0.6) and AST (p= 0.9) as compared to APAP group (p>0.05). NAC (groupIV) significantly decreased serum transaminases compared to groups II and III (p<0.01). Fructose did not reducecentrilobular necrosis produced by APAP, while NAC had significant cytoprotection in this animal model. Conclusion: Low dose fructose (1g/kg) has no hepatoprotective role in acute APAP hepatotoxicity in vivo and NACconferred hepatoprotection. Additional studies are needed to understand the combined interaction of fructose and APAP,as fructose is being extensively consumed by general population in form o f commercial beverages.