INFERRING THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF GREEN TEA WATER EXTRACTAFTER PROLONGED CONSUMPTION AGAINST EPIRUBICIN-INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN MICE: A HISTOLOGICAL STUDY.

Hepatotoxicity is a well-known complication of anticancer agent epirubicin, as a result of oxidative stress. One of the most commonly consumed herbal extracts with antioxidant properties is green tea.The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of prolonged consumption of green tea water extract against epirubicin-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. One hundred adult female mice were divided into control (GI), treated with access to water (GIIa), treated with access to green tea water extract (GIIb) and untreated with access to green tea water extract only (GIII).Epirubicin was administrated every three weeks for eight cycles. Livers from five mice were taken from each group after one, three, four, six and eight cycles. The GIIa group showed hydropic degeneration, apoptosis and pyknotic nuclei from early cycles of administration and continued to be observed until marked necrosis and haemorrhage were observed after the 6th cycle. In contrast, the GIIb group showed good protective profile against epirubicin-induced histological changes observed in GIIa group until the 4th cycle where frequentpresence of changes such as bi-nucleated cells and inflammations were observed. By the end of the 6th cycle, severe histological changes were observed including marked necrosis followed by exponential increased of mortalities. The GIII group started showing histological changes after the 6th cycle. Although consumption of green tea ameliorated the epirubicin-induced changes, prolonged consumption introduced a potential pro-oxidant property when combined with epirubicin. This suggests that green tea anti-oxidant and pro-oxidant properties are interchangeable depending on the duration of consumption.