HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF WATER KEFIR
Abstract
Acute liver failure is a type of liver disease in which the liver has decreased or even lost its function in a relatively short time. Previous research had shown that water kefir had strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Therefore, this current study aimed to evaluate the ability of water kefir to prevent and treat acute liver failure. This experiment was conducted using two methods: the prevention and treatment of acute liver failure. In both methods, the inducing agent used was acetaminophen 2 g / kg bw administrated orally. Water kefir was evaluated in 3 doses: 90 mL / kg BW, 180 mL / kg BW, and 270 mL / kg BW; with silymarine as the standard drug. The parameters were AST, ALT, ASP, and total protein level, and Manja Roenigk Histopathology Score. The results showed that in both methods, water kefir in all doses was able to significantly improve AST, ALT, ASP, and total protein level compared to the positive control. The improvement in these levels was also supported by the results of the histological score which also decreased. It means that there was an improvement in the level of liver necrosis. However, water kefir that showed comparable results to silymarine was a dose of 180 mL / kg BW for prevention and 270 mL / kg BW for the treatment of acute liver failure. It could be concluded that water kefir had the ability to prevent and treat acute liver failure caused by acetaminophen.