Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action of melatonin in an experimental model of secondary biliary cirrhosis induced by bile duct ligation

Table 1 Plasma levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase in the different experimental groups

Group	AST (U/L)	ALT (U/L)	AP (U/L)
CO	88.8 ± 0.07	37.0 ± 1.9	122.4 ± 13.5
CO + Mel	90.4 ± 8.4	38.8 ± 3.2	111.6 ± 8.1
BDL	425.8 ± 46.6e	105.8 ± 13.5e	381.2 ± 35.5e
BDL + Mel	117.5 ± 18.8f	42.0 ± 3.4f	104.3 ± 11.03f

All concentrations are expressed as mean ± SD error. Significant difference exists between the BDL and control groups (CO and CO + Mel) (^eP < 0.001). Significant difference exists between the BDL and BDL + Mel groups (^fP < 0.001). CO: Control; CO + Mel: Control + melatonin; BDL: Bile duct ligation; BDL + Mel: Bile duct ligation + melatonin.

Table 2 Activity of antioxidant enzymes in the different experimental groups

Groups	SOD	CAT	GPx	GST
	(USOD/mg prot)	(pmol/mg prot)	(nmol/min/mg prot)	(μmol/min/mg prot)
CO	2.43 ± 0.17	2.19 ± 0.21	6.93 ± 0.76	2.28 ± 0.20
CO + Mel	2.31 ± 0.25	2.21 ± 0.28	7.15 ± 1.05	2.57 ± 0.09
BDL	0.88 ± 0.211	1.09 ± 0.011	37.78 ± 2.391	5.08 ± 0.431
BDL + Mel	2.47 ± 0.222	2.46 ± 0.042	9.61 ± 1.202	1.93 ± 0.212

All values are expressed as mean ± SD error.

¹Significant difference exists between the BDL and control groups (CO and CO + Mel) (SOD, P < 0.01; CAT, P < 0.05; GPx and GST, P < 0.001);

²Significant difference exists between the BDL and BDL + Mel groups (SOD and CAT, P < 0.01; GPx and GST, P < 0.001). CO: Control; CO + Mel: Control + melatonin; BDL: Bile duct ligation; BDL + Mel: Bile duct ligation + melatonin. SOD: Superoxide dismutase; CAT: Catalase; GPx: Glutathione peroxidase; GST: Glutathione S-transferase.