الفهرس 
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Abstract
Paracetamol, the most commonly sold over-the-counter antipyretic analgesic, is generally considered harmless at therapeutic doses. However, paracetamol overdose causes severe and sometimes fatal hepatic damage in humans and experimental animals. This study was undertaken to examine the effects of Zingiber Officinale (ginger) on paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity in rats.
The study was carried out on forty rats which were randomly divided into four groups each consisting of ten animals as the following design:
Group (1): Control rats fed on basal diet and distilled water ad libitum.
Group (2): Paracetamol treated group, the rats were treated orally with paracetamol at dose of 1 g/kg body weight for three weeks (4 times per week) for induction of chronic hepatotoxicity.
Group (3): Ginger treated group, the rats fed with ginger (1% w/w in diet) for four weeks and water ad libitum.
Group (4): Ginger and paracetamol group, the rats fed with ginger (1% w/w in diet) one week followed by three weeks oral administration of paracetamol at dose 1 g/kg body weight (4 times per week).
At the end of experiment, blood samples were withdrawn from the retro-orbital vein of each rat and used for the estimation of serum activity of ALT, AST, ALP, GGTand LDH, total protein, albumin and globulin fraction levels, and lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-c, LDL-c and VLDL-c).
A part of each liver was weighed and homogenized, the homogenate was used for the estimation of reduced glutathione (GSH) content, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities and level of malondialdehyde (MDA).
Our results and statistical analysis revealed that:
1. Administration of paracetamol significantly decreased serum total protein and albumin levels while serum prealbumin, alpha-1, alpha-2, beta- and gamma-globulins levels were significantly increased as compared to control group.
2. Feeding ginger 1% significantly increased serum total protein, albumin, prealbumin, alpha-1, alpha-2, beta- and gamma-globulins levels when compared to control or paracetamol groups.
3. Administration of ginger 1% together with paracetamol significantly increased serum total protein, albumin and prealbumin levels as compared to paracetamol group meanwhile; serum alpha-1, alpha-2, beta- and gamma-globulins levels were significantly also increased when compared to control, paracetamol or ginger groups.
4. Administration of paracetamol 1 g/kg b.wt significantly increased serum aminotransferases and LDH enzymatic activities while not significantly increased serum ALP and GGT activities when compared to control group.
5. Administration of ginger 1% significantly decreased serum enzymatic activities of ALT, AST, ALP and LDH activity, while not significantly decreased serum GGT activity as compared to control group.
6. Administration of ginger 1% together with paracetamol significantly decreased serum ALT and AST activities but not significantly decreased serum LDH activity as compared paracetamol group. While serum ALT activity not significantly decreased, serum AST not significantly increased and serum LDH significantly increased as compared to control group. However, serum ALP activity was not significantly increased, while serum GGT activity was significantly increased when compared to control or paracetamol groups.
7. Administration of paracetamol at dose of 1 g/kg b.wt not significantly decreased serum total cholesterol level, significantly decreased serum triglycerides, HDL-c and VLDL-c levels while significantly increased serum LDL-c level as compared to control group.
8. Feeding ginger 1% significantly increased serum total cholesterol and HDL-c levels, significantly decreased serum triglycerides and VLDL-c levels when compared to control group.
9. Administration of ginger and paracetamol significantly increased serum triglycerides, LDL-c and VLDL-c levels while significantly decreased serum HDL-c level with no difference in serum total cholesterol level when compared to control or paracetamol group
10. Paracetamol at dose 1 g/kg b.wt significantly increased hepatic MDA level and GR enzymatic activity with non significant increase in GST activity while GPX enzymatic activity and level of GSH were significantly decreased when compared to control group.
11. Feeding ginger 1% significantly decreased level of MDA and increased hepatic GSH content with no statistical difference in antioxidant enzymatic activities as compared to control.
12. Administration of ginger and paracetamol together significantly increased hepatic MDA content as compared to control group but significantly decreased as compared to paracetamol group. The level of GSH was significantly decreased when compared to control group, GR enzymatic activity was significantly decreased as compared to paracetamol group, GPX enzymatic activity was significantly decreased when compared to control group with no statistical difference in GST enzymatic activity as compared to control or paracetamol groups.