The effects of alpha lipoic acid on liver cells damages and apoptosis induced by polyunsaturated fatty acids

► Polyunsaturated fatty acid rich diet causes severe liver degeneration in young rats. ► ALA is a powerful antioxidant effects on fatty liver. ► ALA prevents degenerations and induces liver regeneration. ► ALA induces liver regeneration by inhibiting apoptosis. ► ALA may be cause transformation of HSCs into hepatocyte. We studied the effect of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on the liver cell damages and apoptosis by n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) rich diet in young rats. 24 Wistar rats were divided into four groups. During the study, 12 of them (control) were fed with standard chow and other 12 (n-6) were fed with the food containing high-fat n-6 for 8weeks. At the end of the fourth week, control and n-6 groups were randomly divided into two groups and then, 4weeks, 35mg/kg ALA are injected. Groups; control, control+ALA, n-6, n-6+ALA. The liver tissue glutathione (GSH) activity was determined. Immunohistochemistry for caspase-3 and TUNEL method for apoptosis were performed. The GSH levels have significantly decreased (p