Assessment of Organ Damage Markers in Acetaminophen-induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats Pre-treated with Quail Eggs

This study investigated the response of organ damage markers to quail egg pre-treatment on acetaminophen–induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Thirty (30) albino wistar rats assigned to 5 groups of 6 rats each were used for this study. Groups 2-4 rats were orally pre-treated with 30, 15 and 7.5 mg/ml of quail egg solutions respectively for 7 days. On day 7 post treatment, 2000 mg/kg of acetaminophen (Paracetamol®) was orally administered to rats in groups 2-5. Groups 1 and 5 rats were pre-treated with distilled water (10 ml/kg) to serve as normal and negative controls respectively. Forty eight hours (48 h) post acetaminophen administration, blood samples were collected for biochemical [(total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), conjugated bilirubin (CB) and unconjugaed bilirubin (UB)] analyses. Results indicated significant (P < 0.05) decrease in BUN values of groups 2-4 rats (Quail egg-pretreated groups) when compared to that of the rats in group 5 (negative control). The total bilirubin values of rats in group 5 (induced untreated group) were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than those of groups 1-3 rats. The conjugated bilirubin levels of rats in group 2 were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of the negative control rats while no significant changes (P > 0.05) were observed in the TP and ALB values across all the groups. It was concluded that pre-treating acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxic rats with quail egg, ameliorated organ damage injuries with highest ameliorative effect at 30 mg/ml.