Nicotine induced hepatotoxicity and its prevention with date palm pit powder

Cigarette smoking is common in societies worldwide and has been identifi ed as injurious to human health. Nicotine is the most abundant component in the cigarette smoke. It is fi rst metabolized in the liver. The natural diet contains a variety of compounds, such as date palm(Phoenix dactylifera L.). It exhibits protective effect against different toxins. The aims of present study were to investigate the damaging effects of nicotine on the liver and the preventive role of date palm against such damage. Date palm pit powder was used to study its protective effect on nicotine induced hepatotoxicity. Three groups of adult male albino mice were used, each containing eight animals. Group A served as a control; Group B was used as an experimental group treated with nicotine(0.3 mg/kg) intraperitoneally for forty-fi ve days; Group C received nicotine(0.3 mg/kg) intraperitoneally along with date palm pit powder(500 mg/kg) orally for forty-five days. Histopathological examination revealed that the general architecture was damaged with increase in size of hepatocytes, central vein and number of fat vacuoles and periportal infiltration of lymphocytes. The nicotine treated mice showed decreased level of cytoplasmic vacuolization, necrosis and infl ammation. Date palm pit powder administration to nicotine-treated mice showed reversion of the damaged feature to nearly normal. These results along with previous study suggest that date palm pit powder is useful in combating nicotine induced hepatotoxicity.