www.elsevier.de/acthis Protective effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats Ilter Kus a , Neriman Colakoglu b , Hidir Pekmez a , Dilara Seckin c , Murat Ogeturk a , Mustafa Sarsilmaz a, * a Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Firat University, Elazig 23119 Turkey b Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey c Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey Received 24 December 2003; received in revised form 12 May 2004; accepted 14 May 2004 Summary In the present study, protective effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) have been evaluated on carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 )-induced hepatotoxicity in rat. Twenty- four male Wistar rats were divided in three groups. Group I was used as control. Rats in group II were injected every other day with CCl 4 for 1 month, whereas rats in group III were injected every other day with CCl 4 and CAPE for 1 month. At the end of the experiment, all animals were killed by decapitation and blood samples were obtained. Serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total and conjugated bilirubin levels and hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were determined. For histopathological evaluation, livers of all rats were removed and processed for light microscopy. All biochemical parameters in serum and the hepatic MDA content were significantly higher in animals treated with CCl 4 than in the controls. Rats treated with CCl 4 and CAPE showed a significant reduction in biochemical parameters in serum and hepatic MDA content. Livers of rats treated with CCl 4 showed classic histology of cirrhosis, whereas the histopathological changes were reduced after administration of CCl 4 and CAPE. A normal lobular appearance was observed in livers in this group except for fatty degeneration. The results of our study indicate that CAPE treatment prevents CCl 4 -induced liver damage in rats. & 2004 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. ARTICLE IN PRESS KEYWORDS Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE); Carbon tetrachloride; Hepatotoxicity; Light microscopy; Rat *Corresponding author. Tel.: þ90-424-237-00-00x6035; fax: þ90-424-23-79-138. E-mail address: msarsilmaz@firat.edu.tr (M. Sarsilmaz). 0065-1281/$ - see front matter & 2004 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.acthis.2004.05.002 Acta histochemica 106 (2004) 289–297