Vitamin C and quercetin combination activity on aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase of mice with ethanol induced hepatotoxicity
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The liver is the main organ in the process of ethanol metabolism. Excessive amounts of ethanol intake can increase the risk of hepatotoxicity. Administration of the antioxidant vitamin C or quercetin alone is known to act as a hepatoprotector by improving AST and ALT levels in livers exposed to ethanol. The purpose of this study was to find an effective dose combination of vitamin C and quercetin to prevent ethanol-induced liver damage and to determine its toxicity. This study used a post-test with control group design with 30 male swiss-webster mice divided into five groups: Non-treatment group (NTG), negative control group (CG) were given 20% ethanol (4 gr/KgBW), treatment 1 (T1) a combination of vitamin C 50 mg/KgBW and quercetin 20 mg/KgBW and 20% ethanol (4 gr/KgBW), (T2) a combination of 100 mg/KgBW vitamin C and 40 mg/KgBW quercetin and 20% ethanol (4 gr/KgBW), and (T3) a combination of 200 mg/KgBW vitamin C and 80 mg/KgBW quercetin and 20% (4 gr/kgBW). After 28 days of treatment, the differences in AST and ALT levels between groups were statistically tested by Kruskal Wallis, followed by the Games-Howell post-hoc test. Toxicity was observed from death 24 hours early in the treatment, changes in behavior, and physical changes in the mice during treatment. AST and ALT levels in the negative control group (CG) increased significantly compared to the non-treatment group (NGT) (p<0.05). All doses of the combination of vitamin C and quercetin significantly reduced AST levels in ethanol-induced mice, and there was no difference in activity between the three dose combinations. However, the three combination doses of vitamin C and quercetin were unable to reduce the ALT levels of ethanol-induced mice. There were no mice deaths in the first 24 hours of treatment, and also no behavioral and physical changes in mice during treatment. The effective combination dose to reduce AST levels is a dose of 50 mg/kgBB of vitamin C and 20 mg/KgBB of quercetin. These doses did not cause toxic effects on mice.