Effect of olive oil on the stomach of adult male albino rats with induced liver fibrosis: histological and immunohistochemical study

Background Liver fibrosis proceeds to portal hypertension, and portal hypertensive gastropathy is considered its main complication. Olive oil is associated with human health benefits. Aim To study the effect of olive oil on the stomach after induction of liver fibrosis. Materials and methods A total of 50 healthy adult male albino rats were randomly divided into two groups, including group I (control group) and group II (experimental group), which were subdivided into four subgroups: olive oil-treated subgroup IIa received 5 ml/kg body weight olive oil daily by an orogastric tube for 4 weeks, subgroup IIb received 0.1 ml/100 g body weight carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) by intraperitoneal injection twice per week for 4 weeks, subgroup IIc received both olive oil and CCL4 at the same dose of subgroups IIa and IIb for the same period, and subgroup IId received CCL4 for 4 weeks and then olive oil was given alone for another 4 weeks as the same dose in subgroups IIa and IIb. Stomach specimens were processed for histological and immunohistochemical study. Results Subgroup IIb showed disorganized and atrophic gastric glands with severe interstitial hemorrhage and diffuse inflammatory infiltrates. The parietal cells had vacuolated cytoplasm with irregular nuclei, and others had karyolitic nuclei with vacuolization of the cytoplasm of some chief cells. Subgroup IIc showed significant improvement, and subgroup IId showed nonsignificant improvement. Conclusion The use of olive oil partially improved the histological changes in the stomach as a result of liver fibrosis.