Evaluation of the anti-anemic potential of Glycyrrhiza glabra aqueous extract in Phenylhydrazine-treated rats

Glycyrrhiza glabra is one of the popularly grown leafy plants with several therapeutical effects in Iran. In this experiment, we evaluated the anti-anemia potential of aqueous extract of G. glabra on Phenylhydrazine-induced anemic rats. In vivo design, 50 rats were used. Induction of hemolytic anemia was done by three injections of Phenylhydrazine in 40 rats. After one day, the rats were divided into five subgroups, including negative healthy control, untreated negative control, and three groups receiving the G. glabra at 30, 60, and 120 mg/kg concentrations. At the end of day 15 of treatment, the animals of all groups were sacrificed, and blood samples were taken to analyze the biochemical, hematological, and immunological parameters. Several doses of G. glabra significantly (p≤0.05) enhanced the reduced levels of high-density lipoprotein, total protein, albumin, white blood cell, platelet, red blood cell, hemoglobin, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, interleukin 4, interleukin 5, interleukin 10, interleukin 13, and interferon alpha and decreased the increased levels of alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, ferrous, ferritin, erythropoietin, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, total and conjugated bilirubin, urea, creatinine, interleukin 1, interleukin 6, interleukin 12, interleukin 18, interferon gamma, and tumor necrosis factor alpha, as compared to the untreated group. In conclusion, the obtained results revealed the anti-anemia potential of aqueous extract of G. glabra. Extraction of active molecules will be the future work to peruse.