Casein or soy protein supplementation protects against hepatotoxicity in hypercholesterolemic rats treated with rosuvastatin

Rosuvastatin (Rvs) is used for hypercholesterolemia therapeutic but it induces adverse effects including hepatotoxicity. This study aimed to evaluate the hepatoprotective role of casein and soy protein in hypercholesterolemic rats received Rvs. Seven groups of male Wistar rats were treated for 8 weeks including; control group, high-cholesterol diet (HCD) group, the groups treated orally with casein or soy protein (300 mg/kg bw) suspended in distilled water, the group received HCD for 4 weeks and treated orally with Rvs (20 mg/kg bw) for another 4 weeks, and the groups received HCD for 4 weeks and treated orally with casein or soy protein for another 4 weeks. Blood and tissue samples were collected for different assays. The results indicated that Rvs improved lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic rats, but it disturbed the liver and kidney indices, oxidative stress markers, the hepatic mRNA expression of SREBP-1c, SREBP-2, FAS, and ACC-1 and the histopathological picture in hypercholesterolemic rats. Casein and soy protein improved the all the tested parameters, the histological picture, and mRNA expression of the tested genes, and soy protein was more effective than casein. Casein and soy protein supplementation can protect against Rvs-induced hepatotoxicity under hypercholesterolemic conditions.