This experiment was designed to determine the effect of the aqueous extract of blackberry fruits
on the liver tissue of male rabbits with therapeutically induced hypothyroidism. Twenty adult
male rabbits were randomly distributed into four equal groups. The first group was treated with
water and normal food and was considered a negative control group (G1). The second group
was treated with carbimazole (G2).
The third group was treated with carbimazole and aqueous extract of blackberry fruits (G3).
The fourth group was treated with aqueous extract of blackberry fruits (G4).
The results showed a significant decrease at the probability level (p<0.01) in the second group
(G2) treated with carbimazole in the concentration of HDL and a significant increase at the
probability level (p<0.01) in the concentration of (TC, TG, LDL, VLDL) respectively with an
increase in the concentration of the lipase enzyme.
The results of the histological study showed the occurrence of central vein congestion,
sinusoidal dilation, inflammatory infiltration and cellular degeneration in group (G2) that
received carbimazole (0.02 mg/kg body weight) compared to the control group (G1) that
received water and normal food.
As for group (G3) treated with carbimazole (0.02 mg/kg body weight) and blackberry aqueous
extract (200 mg/kg body weight), it showed mild central vein congestion and sinusoidal
dilation compared to group (G4) treated only with blackberry aqueous extract (200 mg/kg body
weight), in which the liver tissue appeared closer to its normal state with a clear central vein
and mild sinusoidal dilation.