Naturally occurring polyphenols including olive oil (OO) and its constituents hydroxytyrosol (HT) and tyrosol (TY), consumed in the Mediterranean diet, have shown to treat various ailments due to their remarkable antioxidant properties. The present study investigates the hepatoprotective effects of OO and its phenolic compounds HT and TY against TCDD-induced hepatotoxicity in male Wistar rats. TCDD was administered at a dose of 100 ng/kg p.o. for 20 d. Administration of OO (10 ml/kg; oral), HT (0.5 mg/kg; oral), and TY (30 mg/kg; i.p) was started 5 d prior to TCDD administration, and continued for 25 d with or without TCDD administration. At the end of the experiment (25 d), blood was taken for biochemical analyses and liver for the measurement of macromolecular damages, antioxidant status, expressions of CYP1A1, and apoptotic factors. TCDD administration resulted in significant (p < 0.05) increase in the level of hepatic stress markers ALT (101.6 ± 3.07 IU/l), AST (295.0 ± 3.0 IU/l), and ALP (266.66 ± 3.7 IU/l). Also, biochemical analyses of liver reported elevation in nitrite and protein carbonyl content and depletion of NQO1 and HO. However, OO, HT, and TY restored the antioxidant status. Protein expressions by Western Blot technique showed an increase in the level of CYP1A1 and Bax and a decreased level of Bcl-2 on TCDD treatment, and vice versa on OO, HT, and TY treatment. Our work concludes that dietary supplementation of OO, HT, and TY could serve as a potential preventive drug for TCDD-induced hepatotoxicity.

In the present study, the antiproliferative potential of various solvent extracts of Gracilaria edulis (GE) was tested against various cancer cell lines. In the A549 lung cancer cell line model, GE ethyl acetate extract (GEEA) (100 μg mL⁻¹) treated group showed the maximum and significant (P < 0.05) growth inhibition at 48 h. The IC₅₀ value was found to be 24.5 ± 19.1 μg mL⁻¹ at 48 h. Moreover, a low level of LDH release was observed at 48 h at various concentrations of (40, 60, 80 and 100 μg mL⁻¹) GEEA extract-treated group compared to a control group. Changes in the cell morphology and echinoid spikes formation were observed at 48 h. Safety evaluation of GEEA in a non-cancerous liver cell line, PBMC and in Wistar rats positively revealed that the extract did not show any adverse toxic effects. The GEEA extract was partially purified by column chromatography and the active fraction was characterized through LC-MS analysis. Furthermore, HPLC and FT-IR analysis of the active fractions confirmed the presence of phytol, a diterpene compound with potent antiproliferative activity, which positively suggests that the red alga G. edulis contains a potent anticancer active principle.