Amirhossein Akbari Moheb, Farzin Firouzian, Davood Ahmadi Moghadam, Fatemeh Mirzaei, Akram Ranjbar
* 
1 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
Abstract
Background: The hepatotoxicity of paraquat (PQ) is well known. Given the geraniol antioxidant activity, in the present study, we compare the therapeutic effectiveness of geraniol and nano geraniol (NG) against PQ-induced hepatotoxicity in male rats. Methods: The NG was prepared by encapsulating geraniol into nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs). Thirty male Wistar rats were assigned into six separate groups. The hepatotoxicity was induced with PQ (5 mg/kg/day, p.o.), and two treatment groups received the same concentration of geraniol and NG (100 mg/kg/day, p.o.) for seven days. At the end of the treatment period, the animals were deeply anesthetized, and the serum and liver tissue samples were separated. Liver function enzymes, such as alanine and aspartate aminotransferase (ALT and AST) were assessed in serum samples. Also, oxidative stress biomarkers and histopathological studies were evaluated in the liver tissue samples. Results: PQ administration significantly increased the serum levels of ALT and AST. Also, PQ increased lipid peroxidation (LPO), and decreased levels of antioxidant system, which indicates the induction of oxidative stress. However, treatment with NG was potentially superior to free geraniol to return the aforementioned ratio toward normal levels, and histopathological examination correlated well with these findings. Conclusions: As a result, NG compared to the free geraniol, due to its antioxidant activity can be used as a new and efficient therapeutic approach in the treatment of hepatotoxicity caused by PQ.