Alteraciones enzimáticas hepáticas en ratas tratadas con vitamina E (a-tocoferol)

Abstract

In the present paper the effect of intraperitoneal administration of 50, 100, 200 y 400 mg of tocopherol daily for 20 days, respectively, on the liver enzyme activity in 60 white male Wistar rats, aged 12 weeks and weighing 180-200 g, has been studied. The group control was integrated by 15 healthy rats with similar characteristics (strain, sex, age and weight) to treated animals. At the end of the study, rats were sacrificed under ether anesthesia. Blood and liver samples were taken for the determination of serum vitamin E and liver enzyme activity. Administration of excess of vitamin E produced a significant (p<0.05) increase in the content of serum and liver vitamin E and increased (p<0.05) the activity of the following enzymes: alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, acid maltase (acid 1,4-glucosidase), alkaline phosphatase, 5'-nucleotidase, glucuronidase, glutamyltranspeptidase and aldolase while glucose-6-phosphatase, glycogen phosphorylase, amylase and acid proteases decreased (p<0.05) as compared with untreated controls. These changes depend on the doses given of vitamin E. In conclusion, our results provide evidence that short-term administration of high doses of vitamin E result in a marked alteration of activity of several liver enzymes.