Abstract
Introduction: Paracetamol overdose is a primary cause of acute liver and renal damage due to oxidative stress and depletion of glutathione reserves. Palladium-Mexidol complexes have demonstrated significant antioxidant, membrane-protective, and cytoprotective properties. Objectives: This study investigates the therapeutic potential of a palladium–Mexidol complex in this context.
Materials and Methods: This experimental animal study was conducted on 36 healthy white rats, randomly divided into four groups. The groups included a healthy control group, a paracetamol-induced hepatitis model group, a treatment group that received intraperitoneal palladium–Mexidol following hepatitis induction, and a post-treatment group assessed ten days after the final dose. Serum levels of hepatic and cellular injury markers, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), were measured and compared between each pair of experimental groups
Results: The results indicated that the liver enzyme activities showed distinct changes across experimental groups, with healthy control rats maintaining normal levels of AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, LDH, and CPK. Paracetamol-induced hepatitis caused significant elevations in all these enzymes, reflecting liver injury. Treatment with palladium-Mexidol partially normalized enzyme levels, indicating initial recovery, and by the tenth-day post-treatment, further significant improvements were observed, with continued reductions in enzyme concentrations.
Conclusion: The result indicated the hepatoprotective efficacy of the palladium-Mexidol complex in mitigating paracetamol-induced liver toxicity, with progressive improvement observed by the tenth day post-treatment, indicating both immediate hepatoprotection and sustained liver recovery. We conclude that palladium-Mexidol complex is a promising hepatoprotective therapeutic approach that warrants further investigation and assessment of long-term safety profiles to advance its potential clinical applications.