Amelioratory Effect of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Origanum majorana on some Liver Function and Histological Alteration of the Liver in Experimentally Obese Rats

Abstract

Obesity’s dangers are becoming more widely recognized around the world. Obese people are more likely to develop a variety of serious diseases, including fatty liver. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Origanum majorana on light microscopic changes in the liver, as well as hematology and some liver enzymes in experimentally obese albino rats. Four groups of twenty-four male albino rats were formed. For three months, the control group was fed a standard laboratory diet and received saline orally by gavage tube. Obese rats were given a high-fat diet. The marj group received 20 mg/kg of aqueous extract of marjoram via gavage tube. The obese/marj group received the same treatment as the obese group and received 20 mg/kg of aqueous extract of marjoram daily via gavage tube. The liver and visceral fat weights of animals were recorded, blood samples for hematology and liver functions were estimated. Liver samples were fixed in 10% formol saline then stained by Hematoxylin and Eosin for histological examination. Obese animals had significantly higher liver, visceral fat weights, and liver function than the control group. Histologically, there was an increase of fatty degeneration in the obese group. However, the obese group that received the aqueous leaf extract of Origanum majorana was lower in all the measured and examined liver parameters than that of the control group. In this study the aqueous leaf extract of Origanum majorana may ameliorate the obesity induced abnormal changes in the hepatocytes.

Keywords

• Liver
• Obesity
• Rats
• Origanum majorana
• Hematology