RHEUM EMODI ameliorates ethanol induced Cytotoxicity in liver cells

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of Rheum emodi (MER) on ethanol (EtOH) induced cytotoxicity in human liver cells. Cells were treated with either EtOH (30mM) alone or together with MER (150μM) for 12 hours. It was found that exposure with EtOH induced different cytotoxicity processes like formation of oxygen radical formation (ROS), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage, lipid peroxidation, decrease in glutathione (GSH) as compared to untreated cells. EtOH induced ROS formation was significantly prevented by MER treatment. Other beneficial effects associated with MER treatment in EtOH challenged cells were increase in GSH level and reduction in LDH leakage and lipid peroxidation. Our findings suggest that MER exert cytoprotective action against EtOH induced liver cell damage.