MORPHOMETRIC STUDY IN A HEPATOPROTECTION MODEL WITH THREE MEDICINAL PLANTS

Abstract

Morphometry is useful for the investigation in diverse specialties, including histology. An analytical study was carried out in the University of Medical Sciences of Villa Clara, to describe the morphometric modifications of the liver after the administration of extracts of Allium sativum L., Ocimum basilicum L, and Mentha x piperita L. in a hepatoprotection model before acute toxicity was induced by paracetamol. Groups of animals that received doses of 200 and 400 mg·kg-1 of weight of the aqueous extracts of the plants were evaluated with a hepatic damage group and another control group without treatment. The study was carried out in liver samples fixed in 10% neutral formol. The imaging was performed with a Canon digital camera coupled to an Optech binocular microscope (objective 40X), using the morphometric system ImageJ. The hepatocytes of the three zones of the hepatic lobes of Rappaport were studied. There were not significant morphometric alterations among the groups, although there existed variations among some analyzed variables. The nucleus area / cytoplasm area remained within normal limits and no differences in the number of sinusoides were number. The groups with the doses of 400 of O. basilicum and 200 of A. sativum presented the morphometric values of greatest similarity to the control group without treatment; it coincides with those attributed with a greater liver protective effect. It is recommended to use hepatotoxicity models that evaluate the morphometric alterations that occur 5 days from the exposure to the toxin.