Fish Oil and Its Role in Acetaminophen Induced Hepatic Injury

Hepatic damage due to drugs, xenobiotics and environmental pollutants has been a serious concern world wide as well as among Indians in terms of morbidity and mortality. Several commonly used drugs like paracetamol, nimesulide, pyrazinamide and other antitubercular drugs, halothane etc., have been implicated to cause hepatic damage that may require drug discontinuation .Fish oil has been studied in a variety of clinical conditions and found to protect against cellular damage due to Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). This study was planned on the assumption that fish oil may play a role in the prevention of hepatic injury induced by paracetamol. Paracetamol (acetaminophen) and Fish (Cod) liver oil (Seven SeasAE), manufactured by universal Medicare Ltd., Bangalore and were purchased from local commercial sources. The effect of fish (Cod) liver oil treatment on paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress in the liver of rat was investigated. Animals exposed to paracetamol treatment (0.5g/kg i.p) 20h prior to sacrifice exhibited 50% rise (p<0.01) in TBARS concentration as compared to control value .Pretreatment of animals with fish oil for 7 days prior to paracetamol challenge elicited 83% decrease (p< 0.01) in MDA level, when compared with the level obtained 20 h after the paracetamol dose only which can be attributed to the antioxidant property of fish oil.