Abstract
Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid (NDGA) is a chemical naturally found in the creosote bush of Mexico and is used traditionally as a reliever of many ailments such as gall stones and kidney stones. Recently NDGA has become more commercialized even though that the knowledge surrounding it is somewhat ambiguous.
Picture #2: The Creosote Bush
(Dr. Alcorn)
The purpose of this experiment is to clear up some of the ambiguity surrounding NDGA and it’s effects. For the experiment a liver was extracted from a laboratory rat and perfused of blood. The liver was then broken down to obtain individual cells. These cells were exposed to different concentrations of NDGA at two different time intervals. It was found that NDGA was toxic to the liver cells because a far greater number of cells were dead than the control group.
The next portion of the experiment focused on finding out what mechanisms NDGA possesses that are toxic to the liver cells. This was done by making reaction cocktails, which included NDGA, liver cells, and Glutathione. These cocktails were put through the HPLC system and two potential mechanisms that could cause the toxicity in liver cells were identified.
It is intended that further research be done allowing safe commercialization of NDGA as a pharmaceutical drug for various ailments.
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