Considering the Effect of Rosa damascena Mill. Essential Oil on Oxidative Stress and COX-2 Gene Expression in the Liver of Septic Rats

Objectives: Sepsis is a clinical illness with a high rate of mortality all over the world. Oxidative stress is considered the main phenomenon that occurs in sepsis. Rosa damascena Mill. is an ancient herbal plant with high pharmacological activities.

Materials and methods: Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) as a standard model was used to induce sepsis in rats. Male adult rats were randomly divided into 5 groups. Different doses of R. damascena essential oil (50 and 100 mg/kg.bw) were gavaged orally for 14 days and on day 15 CLP was performed. After 24 h, blood samples and liver tissues were removed in order to measure oxidative stress [myeloperoxidase (MPO), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glutathione-S-transferase, and ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP)] and biochemical parameters [alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and bilirubin] together with plasma prostaglandin E2 (PGE₂) and COX-₂ expression.

Results: The essential oil was capable of modulating all of the oxidative stress, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory parameters induced by CLP as characterized by elevations in MPO and MDA levels as well as increases in AST and ALT concentrations concomitant with PGE₂ and COX-2 increments. The antioxidant defense system such as GSH and FRAP was also increased in the essential oil treated groups.

Conclusion: Our results showed that the essential oil has antioxidative and hepatoprotective activities through reducing the oxidative injury in sepsis caused by CLP.

Keywords: CLP; Rosa damascena Mill.; Sepsis; hepatoprotective activity; oxidative stress.