The protective effect of coffee against paracetamol‐induced hepatic injury in rats

The effect of daily coffee ingestion on the hepatic detoxifying enzymes of rats challenged with high doses of paracetamol (PCM) was investigated. Two groups of male Wistar rats fed, respectively, chow diets supplemented or not with a coffee extract, were sacrificed at 75 days of age, 48 h after injection of saline or PCM (700 mg/kg body wt). The hepatocytes were isolated. Coffee decreased the lipid peroxidation (29%), increased glutathione (GSH) content (46%) and abolished the increased peroxidation caused by PCM (25%). PCM reduced the hepatic GSH content (62%), but in the animals fed the coffee supplemented diet, the reduction was less pronounced (32%). Coffee increased liver UDP‐glucuronosyl‐transferases UGT1 (75%) and UGT2 (38%), glutathione transferase (46%) and glutathione reductase (72%) activities and decreased glutathione peroxidase (31%). Therefore, it can be concluded that coffee ingestion modulates phase II of the hepatic biotransformation system improving the detoxification ability of the organism against toxic xenobiotics. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Coffee is a very popular beverage, which is consumed worldwide and consists of many substances that are suggested to be potential chemoprotectors in biological systems. Among the constituents, caffeine, phenolic polymers, chlorogenic acids, lipids, kahweol and cafestol, all of which have pharmacological properties that lead to adaptation of the organism to its environment, can be cited. Coffee, therefore, is able to protect the human being against diseases and xenobiotic challenges. The results presented in this study demonstrate the effect of coffee as a modulator of the hepatic detoxifying enzyme system. Therefore, this beverage can be classified as a functional food. In addition to the reported application of coffee for the protection against degenerative diseases, free radical damage, cancer and other metabolic alterations, it also acts by modulating the hepatic enzyme system, thereby improving the detoxification capacity of the liver.