## 4 Discussion
Various types of antioxidants have the ability to reduce or neutralize free radicals produced by toxic materials. Moreover, oxidizing GSH to glutathione disulfide causes reduction of hydrogen peroxide as well as hydroperoxide. In the current study, our data indicated that antioxidant enzymes levels were significantly reduced in animals treated with CCl4 when compared with the control group. Moreover, garlic extract treatment facilitated a significant increase in all tested antioxidant enzymes levels when compared with CCl4-induced groups. This supports the notion that garlic extract possesses hepatoprotective potential which may be due to its potential to increase the activity of antioxidant enzymes. Further, our study supports a previous study which suggested that CCl4 treatment led to a significant reduction of GSH levels when compared to the normal group and GSH levels were increased significantly by treatment with extract [37]. Similarly, it has been documented that hepatic SOD, CAT and GPx are reduced by cyclophosphamide. However, the treatment with black garlic extract reverses the reduction of hepatic SOD, CAT and GPx which occurred due to treatment with cyclophosphamide [38]. Further, our study is in accordance with another previous study which has described that lipid peroxidation becomes significantly reduced because of the administration of garlic and silymarin. On the other hand, endogenous antioxidants like SOD, CAT, GSH have been reported to be considerably increased due to administration of garlic and silymarin [39]. SOD is an important line of defense against oxidative stress [40]. Inflammation is considered to be one of the root causes of liver tissue damage and hence, it contributes significantly to non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, severe fibrinogenesis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Inflammation has been reported to be activated by CCl4-induced liver toxicity which leads to the release of pro-inflammatory cytokine including IL-1\(\beta\) and TNF-\(\alpha\)[34]. IL-1\(\beta\) and TNF-\(\alpha\) are the main cytokines in inflammatory process and hepatic injury is linked with increased levels of IL-1\(\beta\) and TNF-\(\alpha\)[41]. CRP (C-reactive protein) is an important substance which is released by the liver and it plays an important role in the inflammatory process. CRP has been known to be involved in opsonization as well as activation of the complement system in response to IL-6 secretion [24]. In addition, CRP is considered to be a sensitive marker of inflammation and it has been reported to be increased intensely in other conditions including trauma, burns, myocardial infarction and cancer [42]. It has been documented that increased level of various pro-inflammatory cytokines is associated with the liver damage. Hence, increased level of pro-inflammatory markers might be involved in initiation of the pathogenesis of various liver diseases. In the current study, it was observed that CRP, TNF-\(\alpha\), IL-6, ICAM1 levels in animal treated with CCl4, were increased significantly as compared to control group. The treatment with garlic extract at a dose of 75 mg/kg b.w, was shown to significantly decrease the inflammatory marker level. A pioneering study based on garlic extract reported that levels of TNF-\(\alpha\) and IL-1\(\beta\) in the animals treated with CCl4 group were significantly increased. However, our data indicates that treatment with garlic extract resulted in the reduction of TNF-\(\alpha\) and IL-1\(\beta\)[37]. Further, the infiltration of lymphocytes, inflammation, edema, haemorrhages and necrosis in the CCl\({}_{4}\)-treated group have been found to be linked with hepatic cell injury. These changes were significantly attenuated by treatment with garlic extract. This study was similar to previous finding related to histopathological examination of the liver sections of CCl\({}_{4}\)/DEN administrated animals with hepatocyte ballooning, multiple centrilobular necrosis, and infiltration of inflammatory cells into the portal tract as well as sinusoid [43; 44; 45].