Negundoside, an iridiod glycoside from leaves of Vitex negundo, protects human liver cells against calcium-mediated toxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride

Figure 3 Effect of NG and silymarin against CCl₄-induced altered cellular and nuclear morphology of HuH-7 cells. NG and silymarin rescued CCl₄-induced cellular (I) and nuclear morphological (II) changes. Cellular morphology was observed by normal phase contrast microscopy, while as nuclear morphology was evaluated by Hoechst 33258 staining of HuH-7 cells and observed under fluorescence microscopy as described in Materials and Methods. These methods detected influences of CCl₄ on cellular and nuclear changes. A: Untreated control cells show normal cellular characteristics and rounded nuclei; B: Cells treated with CCl₄ (2 mmol/L) for 24 h show altered membrane structure and condensed chromatin/nuclei, apoptotic (arrows) and scattered apoptotic bodies; C: Cells incubated with NG (30 mg/L); D: Cells incubated with NG (100 mg/L); E: Cells incubated with silymarin (50 mg/L), 1 h before the treatment with CCl4 showed protection against CCl4-mediated cellular and nuclear alterations.