Nisha Bhatia
The present study was designed to evaluate the chemopreventive potential of lycopene enriched tomato extract (LycT) on hepatocellular carcinoma during its initiation by screening the functional status of liver through non-invasive techniques using 99mTc-mebrofenin. Moreover, various hematological, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers were also assessed. Female Balb/c mice were segregated into four groups: Control, NDEA (cumulative dose of 200mg NDEA/kg b.wt in 8 weeks), LycT (5mg/kg b.wt thrice a week) and LycT + NDEA (co-administration of LycT and NDEA). NDEA administration was started after two weeks of LycT treatment. NDEA treatment induced several histopathological alterations in liver tissue and also caused increased levels of inflammatory markers i.e. TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-β in serum. NDEA exposure also exhibited decreased hemoglobin, red blood cells, platelets and lymphocyte counts while total leucocyte and neutrophil counts were increased. An increase in plasma lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities with a subsequent decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were also observed upon NDEA exposure. In addition, NDEA also induced functional alterations in the liver tissue as evident by slow hepatic excretion of 99mTc-mebrofenin. LycT administration to NDEA mice showed improved functional status of liver by enhancing the excretion of 99mTc-mebrofenin. The modulation of these parameters by LycT, demonstrated that LycT administration provides protection against NDEA induced insults which may have significant implications in preventing HCC.
