Protective effect of bromelain against warm ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat liver

Objectives: Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is an important cause of liver damage occurring during surgical procedures including hepatic resection and liver transplantation. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate that bromelain (an extract of pineapple associated with different proteases) exhibits various fibrinolytic, antiedematous, antithrombotic, and anti-inflammatory activities. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of bromelain on liver function following IRI.Material Methods: Twenty–five healthy adult male wistar rats weighing 250g to 300g were randomly allocated to 5 groups (n =5): A sham-operated group(receiving, bromlain) and four groups underwent 60 min lobar hepatic ischemia followed by 6 or 24h reperfusion that two groups pretreated by bromelain (0.1mg/kg,IP,60 min before ischemia). At the end of each reperfusion period, blood samples were taken to evaluate enzyme alterations induced by IR .ALT, AST, ALP and LDH were measured in the serum to evaluate the liver function.Results Conclusions: The levels of ALT, AST, ALP and LDH in the groups subjected to IRI were markedly (P 0.05) increased during different times of reperfusion. Rats treated with bromelain exhibited a significant decrease in levels of ALT, AST, ALP and LDH (P 0.05) compared with untreated animals. We concluded that pre ischemic treatment with bromelain (0.1mg/kg,IP) may ameliorate hepatic IRI, as indicated by lower serum hepatic enzyme levels .The hepatoprotective effect of bromelain might be attributed to its fibrinolytic, anti platelet, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, which should be further studied in detail