Anti-oxidant and hepatoprotective effects of Salvia officinalis essential oil against vanadium-induced oxidative stress and histological changes in the rat liver.

The present study was designed to evaluate the protective effects of Salvia officinalis essential oil (SOEO) against vanadium-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. Animals were divided into three groups: the first group served as the control (C), where rats received daily 0.5 mL of saline solution (0.9%) given by intraperitoneal (i.p.) way. Rats in the second group (V) received daily by i.p. way 5 mg/kg BW of NH4VO3 (V). Rats in the third group (SV) received daily V (5 mg/kg BW) by i.p. way and SOEO (15 mg/kg BW) by gavage. Animals were sacrificed after 4 or 10 days of treatment. Administration of V increased plasma ALT, AST, ALP, and LDH activities, and cholesterol, bilirubin, triglyceride, and NO levels in rats and reduced anti-oxidant enzyme activities in the liver. Treatment with SOEO significantly attenuated these changes. Moreover, the histopathological changes and the overexpression of Hsp72/73 proteins induced by V were significantly improved by SOEO. Therefore, our results suggested that SOEO could protect against V-induced oxidative damage in rat livers. The hepatoprotective effect of SOEO might be attributed to its modulation of detoxification enzymes and/or to its anti-oxidant and free radical scavenging effects.