Effect of the leafy vegetable Solanum nigrum on the activities of some liver drug-metabolizing enzymes after aflatoxin B1 treatment in female rats.

Wistar albino female rats were maintained for 10 d on diets containing various levels of the vegetable Solanum nigrum. Simultaneously, they received daily intraperitoneal injections of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) (either 0.2 or 0.4 mg/kg body-weight) diluted in propylene glycol. At the end of the experiment, all animals were killed and their serum and hepatic microsomes were prepared for assay of enzymes. Results showed that aminopyrine N-demethylase activity increased 2.5-fold with 200 (S200) and 600 (S600) g S. nigrum/kg diets. Activity of uridine diphosphate glucuronyltransferase (UDPGT) (EC 2.4.1.17) also increased twofold. Similar results were obtained with glutathione S-transferase (EC 2.5.1.18) activity which increased by 60% with diet S600. After AFB1 treatment, a general increase in the activities of the above enzymes was found, except for UDPGT in the group fed on diet S600. When rats were fed on the diet without S. nigrum, AFB1 induced an increase in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (EC 3.1.3.1), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (EC 2.6.1.1) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT) (EC 2.3.2.2) levels in the serum. AFB1 also induced increases in serum ALP and gamma-GT levels when rats were fed on diet S600.