Evening Primrose Oil Attenuates Liver Injury Induced by Carbon Tetrachloride in Albino Rats Via Improvement of Oxidative Stress and TNF‐α: Protective Study

The hepatotherapeutic agents from plants have become more predominant around the world. Evening primrose oil (EPO) is a popular alternative treatment that contains several phytoconstituents with strong anti‐inflammatory and anti‐oxidant properties. The current work inspected the potential protective effect of EPO against carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 )‐induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Twenty‐four adult male albino Wistar rats were divided into 4 equal groups: group I received the vehicle only (control rats), group II was treated with EPO at 300 mg/kg/day, group III was treated with CCl 4 at 1 mL/kg, twice a week, and group IV was treated with EPO at 300 mg/kg/day, followed 60 min later by CCl 4 1 mL/kg, twice a week. All regimens were oral and for 4 weeks. At the end of the work, we assessed body‐weight gain, liver functional markers, hepatic histological examination, quantitative histochemistry, and immunohistochemical profiling of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α). Gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis was used to detect the fatty acid composition of EPO. CCl 4 administration revealed a significant increase in serum liver functions, a disrupted oxidant/antioxidant status, hepatic histological changes, and an increase in H‐score of TNF‐α immunoexpression. Inversely, EPO pretreatment attenuated all toxic insults of CCl 4 . GC‐MS showed that linoleic acid and its ethyl ester are the most prevalent components in EPO. Our findings showed that EPO could be a potential hepatoprotective agent that can be used in the future to prevent liver injury. Furthermore, the dominant compounds identified in this sample that may have the potential protective effects are fatty acids and their ethyl esters, such as linoleic acid and its ethyl ester.