ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Pharmacology
Erythrosine-Induced Hepatic Biomarkers and Histopathological Changes in Male Rats: Protective Effects of Lycopene and Anthocyanin
Provisionally accepted
Dr.SAFAA H QAHAL1,2*
Fatimah A Alqahtani1,2Haleema Al-Nahari1,2Fawzyah A Alghamdi1,2Fatimah H Khouja3Amna H Khouja3,4- 1Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 2University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 3King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 4King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences College of Nursing, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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This study aims to explore the re-assess of the safety and efficacy of synthetic food dyes, ERY, on the hepatic biomarkers and histological architecture in male adult rats and possibly alleviate these effects by LYC and ANC administration. Sixty rats were randomly distributed into six experimental groups: the control, LYC (lycopene, 5mg/kg), ANC (anthocyanin, 200 mg/kg), ERY (erythrosine, 20mg/kg), ERY+LYC, and ERY+ ANC groups. After 3 and 6 weeks of treatment, erythrosine (ERY, 20 mg/kg) produced marked This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article biochemical and hepatic injury. ERY significantly reduced total protein (from 6.93 g/dL in control to 5.33 g/dL) and albumin (from 2.65 to 1.77 g/dL, p<0.050), while lycopene (LYC) and anthocyanin (ANC) co-administration improved these values compared to ERY alone (p<0.050). ERY elevated total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL relative to control, whereas both LYC and ANC lowered LDL and TG compared to ERY-treated rats. Liver injury markers were strongly increased by ERY, with ALT rising from 14.00 to 23.95 U/L, AST from 41.54 to 52.90 U/L, and GGT from 6.24 to 8.64 U/L. Co-treatment with LYC or ANC reduced significantly ALT and AST and GGT (p<0.050). Total bilirubin increased significantly in the ERY group but was restored to near-control levels with both antioxidants. Histologically, ERY produced moderate to severe focal hepatic degeneration, including hepatocyte cytoplasmic vacuolation (score 2–3), nuclear chromatin clumping (score 2), focal necrosis (score 2), and leukocytic infiltration (score 2–3). LYC and ANC markedly ameliorated these lesions, reducing pathological scores to 0–1, and restored hepatic cords, sinusoids, and nuclear morphology to near-normal or normal appearance by week 6. Collectively, ERY impacted the hepatic chemistries and functionality with considerable effect on the histological appearance of the hepatic tissue in rats, while ANC or LYC resourcefully attenuated these adversative effects.
Keywords: Anthocyanin, Hepatic function, LYCOPENE, Protective, Rats, Synthetic dyes
Received: 04 Oct 2025; Accepted: 04 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 QAHAL, Alqahtani, Al-Nahari, Alghamdi, Khouja and Khouja. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dr.SAFAA H QAHAL
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