Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) exhibit different effect on liver fibrosis in male and female mouse.

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) exhibit different effect on liver fibrosis in male and female mouse.
Mahboubeh Safari Kharkeshi,¹ Fereshteh MirmohammadRezaei,² Mahmood Talkhabi,^3,*
1. Department of Animal science and Marine Biology, Faculty of Life science and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti university, Tehran, Iran.
2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Mazandaran , baboulsar, Iran.
3. Department of Animal science and Marine Biology, Faculty of Life science and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti university, Tehran, Iran.
Introduction: Liver is the largest gland and one of the most important and sensitive organ in body. Liver fibrosis is one of the highly conserved response to liver injury that is observed in patients with chronic viral hepatitis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, cholestatic, and autoimmune liver disaese. The studies illustrate that progression of liver fibrosis leads to cirrhosis of the liver and hepatocellular carcinogenesis in the late stages. The role of various factors in reducing or increasing the incidence of hepatic fibrosis has been reported. Ascorbic acid is considered as a biosynthetic family co-factors and gene regulation of monoxygenase and dioxygenase enzymes that play a role in the synthesis of collagen.
Methods: In this study, the role of ascorbic acid in liver fibrosis induced by intraperitoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride in C57BL/6 adult mice will be examined. In fact, Mice were treated with ascorbic acid solution at concentrations of 1,2 and 3 g / kg for 2 weeks and one day in between. All mice were killed after 4 weeks and their liver was isolated and examined. the activities were achieved like measurement of liver weight (using balance), the incidence of fibrosis (using Masson Trichrome and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining), changes in blood serum enzymes including ALT and AST (using specific kits).
Results: The results of the study showed that ascorbic acid causes to change of liver morphological structures, increase in levels of ALT and AST in blood of the groups of males and females that get average dose of Ascorbic acid and rise the amount of liver injuries. While, these enzymes concentration in females that get low and high dose of Ascorbic acid decreases liver injuries.
Conclusion: generally, this study showed that ascorbic acid in some groups dependent on genus and dose increases the amount of fibrosis in CCL4-induced liver fibrosis. Therefore, as a therapeutic approach, the levels of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the blood of people with liver fibrosis should be investigate and control.
Keywords: fibrosis, liver,carbon tetrachloride, ascorbic acid, epigenetic