Abstract:

Liver cancer is the third most common cancer-related death in the World. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) constitutes %70-85 of liver malignant primary tumors. In this study; we aimed to investigate the role of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) in the experimental liver cancer model and to examine the hepatoprotective effect of silymarin in detail using oxidative-nitrosative stress markers with immunohistochemical methods. For this purpose, 50 Wistar Albino male rats were divided into 5 groups with 10 rats. Animals in DEN group received DEN at a dose of 50 mg/kg once a week for 20 weeks. The rats in the DEN +Silymarin group were Silymarin intraperitoneally for 21 weeks 3 times a week at a dose of 100 mg/kg, starting 1 week prior to the administration of DEN. Silymarin was administered to rats in the group of Silymarin 3 times a week intraperitoneally for 20 weeks at a dose of 100 mg/kg. The rats in the control group were fed pellet feed and drinking water for 20 weeks. Animals in Sham group were treated with propylene glycol dissolved in 0,9 % NaCl intraperitoneally 3 times a week for 20 weeks. At the end of 21 weeks, macroscopically different size and number of nodular structures were detected in the DEN and DEN+Silymarin group. The microscopic examination revealed that the nodules were HCC. As a result, DEN induced liver cancer; however, silymarin did not show a statistically significant protective effect in terms of iNOS and Nitrotyrosine expressions.

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