Melatonin prevents oxidative stress, inflammatory activity, and DNA damage in cirrhotic rats

Table 2 Comet assay in liver tissue of rats that underwent bile duct ligation treated or not with melatonin

Group	Damage index	Damage frequency
CO	77.4 ± 8.6	72.2 ± 7.3
CO + MLT	72.6 ± 16.2	67.8 ± 14.8
BDL	295.5 ± 34.8a	100.0 ± 0.0c
BDL + MLT	171.6 ± 32.9b	91.6 ± 9.5

The damage index can range from 0 (completely undamaged, 100 cells × 0) to 400 (with maximum damage 100 × 4). The damage frequency was calculated based on the number of cells with vs without tails.

^aP < 0.001: Significant increase in the bile duct ligation group in relation to the control and CO + melatonin groups.

^bP < 0.001: Significant reduction in the BDL + MLT group in relation to the BDL group.

^cP < 0.01: Significant increase in the BDL group in relation to the CO and CO + MLT groups.

CO: Control; MLT: Melatonin; BDL: Bile duct ligation; TBARS: Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances.