Aged women will no longer produce estrogen hormone and most often commit in menopausal hormone therapy by using synthetic steroid hormone. However, this therapy potentially causes negative impacts. Steroids contained in sea cucumber powder have been proved to replace the synthetic steroids, which also contain various hepatoprotector materials. This study aimed to determine the effect of sea cucumber treatment on liver of ovariectomized rat (Rattus norvegicus). Thirty of 12 weeks aged of female Sprague dawley rats were ovariectomized (except normal control group, N), divided into six groups and treatments, i.e. normal control (N), negative control (KN, treated by canola oil), positive control (KP, treated by canola oil + ethinyl estradiol 30μg/100 g BW) and sea cucumber group (D1, D2 and D3, treated by canola oil + sea cucumber powder that contain 30μg/100 g BW, 40μg/100 g BW, and 50μg/100 g BW steroid each). The treatment of sea cucumber and ethinyl estradiol was by force-fed every day for 20 days. The results showed that all of the rat livers have hydrophic degeneration. The dose treatment of 40 and 50μg/100 g BW sea cucumbers showed the protecting hepatocyte from fatty changes and also decreasing the hepatocyte of apoptosis, with best dose of 50μg/100 g BW. Both of sea cucumber doses could improve hepatocyte morphopathology thus potentially become a hepatoprotector for aged women.
Keywords: liver, morphopathology, sea cucumber, rats.
