Introduction: Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is an environmental hepatic toxin that is usually used to induce hepatic injury in experimental animals. Myrrh essential oil is one of the main components of myrrh tree that has been widely used in folk medicine to treat different diseases.
Aim of the Work: This work was conducted to evaluate the possible role of myrrh oil in attenuating CCl4 induced hepatic injury in adult male albino rat employing histological and immunohistochemical methods.
Materials and Methods: Thirty adult male albino rats were divided into 4 groups; control group, myrrh oil-treated group (orally administered 50 mg/kg body weight once daily for four weeks), CCl4-treated group (injected intraperitoneally with 1ml/kg CCl4 dissolved in olive oil in 1:1 ratio twice a week for four weeks) and both myrrh oil and CCl4- treated group. Liver specimens were prepared for light microscopic examination using H&E & Masson's trichrome stains. Immunohistochemical study was performed using active caspase-3, α-SMA and PCNA antibodies.
Results: CCl4-treated group revealed disturbed hepatic architecture. Most of hepatocytes had vacuolated cytoplasm and small darkly stained nuclei. The central veins and portal veins were markedly dilated and congested with intense mononuclear cellular infiltrations in addition to bile duct proliferation and excessive collagen fiber deposition. The immunohistochemical study results showed a significant increase in the active caspase-3, α-SMA and PCNA immunoreaction. On the other side, negligible changes were detected in rats concomitantly treated with myrrh oil and CCl4 with a non-significant change in the immunohistochemical reactions.
Conclusion: Myrrh oil could be beneficial in attenuating CCl4-induced hepatic injury.