Citrus aurantium flowers essential oil protects liver against ischemia/reperfusion injury.

• Essential oils were extracted from fresh C. aurantium flowers through microwave-assisted hydrodistillation. • The detailed chemical composition analysis of C. aurantium flowers essential oil (CAEO) was performed by GC/MS-QP-2010 plus Ultra. • CAEO exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects, which protect against hepatocellular I/R-induced damage. The CAEO is an essential oil extracted from Citrus aurantium flowers, have been studied in relation to liver damage done by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). CAEO was given orally for 2 weeks before ischemia, and rats were exposed to 1 h of ischemia accompanied by 5 h of reperfusion. Following I/R, hepatic lipid peroxidation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels was increased, though hepatic glutathione content was reduced, CAEO has ameliorated these changes. I/R significantly improved serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), CAEO, however, has suppressed it. CAEO reduced the expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and TNF-a-associated proteins and improved a rise in heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). CAEO inhibited the increase in COX-2, IL-6, and TNF-a mRNA expression, although the rise in HO-1 mRNA expression was boosted. CAEO suppressed nuclear factor-B nuclear localization in I/R rats. CAEO-treated rats had far less apoptotic cells than I/R rats. CAEO was found to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties that defend against I/R-induced hepatocellular damage [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]