Isolation and in vivo hepatoprotective activity of Melothria heterophylla (Lour.) Cogn. against chemically induced liver injuries in rats

Hepatoprotective and Antioxidant Capacity of Clerodendrum paniculatum Flower Extracts against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats

The aim of the presented work involves the isolation, characterization, and evaluation of hepatoprotective potential of Clerodendrum paniculatum flower extracts. For this purpose, petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, alcohol, and water extracts of C. paniculatum flower were screened for the flavonoid and phenolic content and quantified. Various antioxidant activity assays including 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging, 2,2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and reducing ability were carried out. Of the above methods, the alcoholic extract exhibited high antioxidant potential and was selected further for the hepatoprotective evaluations. Hepatoprotective evaluation of the alcoholic extract was carried out for carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-intoxicated model systems. Enzymes associated with liver functions were estimated, and histopathological evaluations were carried out to monitor the liver architecture. Prominently, reduced levels of various associated enzymes along with increased protein content were observed when the liver specimen was pretreated with the extract. Moreover, the liver architecture was almost comparable to that of the normal control group. The column chromatographic analysis of the extract revealed 13 fractions to possess high phenolics and flavonoid contents. The best two fractions were identified for in vitro hepatoprotective evaluation in the goat liver model. Furthermore, the GC-MS analyses of the fractions were carried out followed by a library search, to identify the constituents responsible for the hepatoprotective activity which revealed the presence of four major constituents-pilocarpine, glyceric acid, pangamic acid, and gallic acid. An in vitro hepatoprotective study of the isolated fractions showed better activity compared to the whole alcoholic extract, and the results were comparable to the normal group taken as a control. The investigations with an in vitro model suggest that the isolated fraction with rich flavonoid content showed better hepatoprotective activity. GC-MS analysis of the fractions that displayed good hepatoprotective activity suggested the presence of pilocarpine, glyceric acid, pangamic acid, and gallic acid, while HPTLC analysis revealed the presence of quercetin.

Evaluation of Hepatoprotective Activity of <i>Clerodendrum paniculatum</i> Leaf on Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Liver Toxicity Model in Swiss Albino Rats and Its Characterization by GC-MS

BACKGROUND

Clerodendrum paniculatum has ethnomedicinal importance in treatment of disorders like wound, typhoid, jaundice, malaria and anemia.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of Clerodendrum paniculatum leaves against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced rat model and identification of its bioactive constituents by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC MS).

METHODS

Successive solvent extraction was carried out. Total phenolic, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity by 2,2- diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH), nitric oxide and 2-Azino-bis [3-ethyl benzothiazoline- 6-sufonic acid] (ABTS method) were done. Ethyl acetate extract was selected for hepatoprotective study in carbon tetrachloride intoxicated model followed by the measurement of liver function marker enzymes such as SGOT (Serum Glutamate Oxaloacetate Transaminase), SGPT (Serum Glutamate Pyruvate Transaminase), and ALP (Alkaline Phosphatase). Biochemical parameters like bilirubin and protein were measured. Histopathologic liver sections were carried out. Bioactive constituents were evaluated by GC MS.

RESULTS

By DPPH and ABTS method, ethyl acetate extract showed IC50 as 70.14±0.92 μg/ml,2958.24±2.460 μg/ml, respectively. The alcoholic extract showed maximum IC50 (197.22 ±7.16 μg/ml) by Nitric oxide radical scavenging method. Hepatoprotective study reveals that intoxicated animal groups have elevated levels of enzymes and bilirubin and suppress the production of protein. The extract pre-treatment showed a significant decrease in enzymes and increased production of total protein in a dose-dependent manner. Histopathologic studies also support the hepatoprotective activity. GC MS analysis revealed the presence of seven major bioactive constituents with ethyl palmitate as the major one.

CONCLUSION

The results support the proof for the hepatoprotective potential of the CPLE extract with potent antioxidant activity and enhanced liver enzyme level. The observed activity could be due to the presence of bioactive compounds as identified by GC MS analysis.

Antioxidant potential of family Cucurbitaceae with special emphasis on Cucurbita genus: A key to alleviate oxidative stress-mediated disorders

Oxidative stress is the imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and accumulation and the ability of a biological system to clear these reactive products. This imbalance leads to cell and tissue damage causing several disorders in human body, such as neurodegeneration, metabolic problems, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Cucurbitaceae family consists of about 100 genera and 1,000 species of plants including mostly tropical, annual or perennial, monoecious, and dioecious herbs. The plants from Cucurbita species are rich sources of phytochemicals and act as a rich source of antioxidants. The most important phytochemicals present in the cucurbits are cucurbitacins, saponins, carotenoids, phytosterols, and polyphenols. These bioactive phyto-constituents are responsible for the pharmacological effects including antioxidant, antitumor, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial, anti-obesity, diuretic, anti-ulcer activity, and antigenotoxic. A wide number of in vitro and in vivo studies have ascribed these health-promoting effects of Cucurbita genus. Results of clinical trials suggest that Cucurbita provides health benefits for diabetic patients, patients with benign prostate hyperplasia, infertile women, postmenopausal women, and stress urinary incontinence in women. The intend of the present review is to focus on the protective role of Cucurbita spp. phytochemicals on oxidative stress-related disorders on the basis of preclinical and human studies. The review will also give insights on the in vitro and in vivo antioxidant potential of the Cucurbitaceae family as a whole.

β-Sitosterol mitigates the development of high-fructose diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in growing male Sprague–Dawley rats

Fructose contributes to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). β-Sitosterol (Bst), a naturally occurring phytosterol, has antihyperlipidaemic and hepatoprotective properties. This study interrogated the potential protective effect of β-sitosterol against NAFLD in growing rats fed a high-fructose diet, modelling children fed obesogenic diets. Forty-four 21 day old male rat pups were randomly allocated to and administered the following treatments for 12 weeks: group I, standard rat chow (SRC) + plain drinking water (PW) + plain gelatine cube (PC); group II, SRC + 20% w/v fructose solution (FS) as drinking fluid + PC; group III, SRC + FS + 100 mg/kg fenofibrate in a gelatine cube; group IV, SRC + FS + 20 mg/kg β-sitosterol gelatine cube (Bst); group V, SRC + PW + Bst. Terminally, the livers were dissected out, weighed, total liver lipid content determined, and histological analyses done. Harvested plasma was used to determine the surrogate biomarkers of liver function. The high-fructose diet caused increased (p < 0.05) hepatic lipid (total) accretion (>10% liver mass), micro- and macrovesicular hepatic steatosis, and hepatic inflammation. β-Sitosterol and fenofibrate prevented the high-fructose diet-induced macrovesicular steatosis and prevented the progression of NAFLD to steatohepatitis. β-Sitosterol can prospectively be used to mitigate diet-induced NAFLD.

Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Quercetin-3-methoxy-4'-glucosyl-7-glucoside Isolated from Indian Medicinal Plant Melothria heterophylla

Background: Melothria heterophylla (family: Cucurbitaceae), commonly known as kudari, is used in the Indian traditional medicine to treat various inflammation-associated diseases, such as asthma, arthritis and pain. However, the anti-inflammatory active components of this plant have not been identified yet. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of a compound, quercetin-3-methoxy-4'-glucosyl-7-glucoside, isolated from M. heterophylla. Methods: The anti-inflammatory activity was determined using carrageenan- and dextran-induced rat paw edema as well as cotton pellet-induced granuloma in rats, whereas the analgesic activity was analyzed using acetic acid-induced writhing, hot plate and tail flick response in mice. The test compound was orally administered at a dose of 5, 10 or 15 mg/kg. The cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1)- and COX-2-inhibitory capacity of the test compound was studied by enzyme immunosorbent assay. Results: Quercetin-3-methoxy-4'-glucosyl-7-glucoglucoside at 15 mg/kg exhibited a maximum inhibition of carrageenan-induced inflammation (50.3%, p < 0.05), dextran (52.8%, p < 0.05), and cotton pellets (41.4%, p < 0.05) compared to control animals. At the same dose, it showed a 73.1% inhibition (p < 0.05) of the pain threshold in acetic acid-induced writhing model. It also exhibited a considerable analgesic activity by prolonging the reaction time of the animals based on hot plate as well as tail flick response. The test compound was found to inhibit COX-1 (IC50 2.76 µg/mL) and more efficiently, COX-2 (IC50 1.99 µg/mL). Conclusions: Quercetin-3-methoxy-4'-glucosyl-7-glucoside possessed substantial analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities possibly due to inhibition of prostaglandin production, supporting the ethnomedicinal application of M. heterophylla to treat various inflammatory disorders.

Investigation of hepatoprotective activity of Cyathea gigantea (Wall. ex. Hook.) leaves against paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the hepatoprotective activity of methanolic leaf extract of Cyathea gigantea (C. gigantea) against paracetamol induced liver damage in rats.

METHODS

The hepatoprotective activity for plant extract was investigated for paracetamol induced hepatoxicity in rats. Wistar albino rats of either sex were divided into five groups of 6 animals each and are given orally the following treatment for seven days. The normal control group was given 1% Na.CMC 1 mL/kg bw, p.o. Paracetamol at dose of 1 g/kg bw, p.o. was given as toxic dose for inducing hepatotoxicity. Silymarin (50 mg/kg, p.o.) was given as reference standard. Two doses of C. gigantea extract i.e., 100 mg/kg, p.o. and 200 mg/kg, p.o. were tested for hepatoprotective activity. The treatment was given for seven days and after 24 h of last treatment blood was collected from retro-orbital plexus and analysed for various serum parameters like serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin (TB) and total protein (TP) in different groups.

RESULTS

The paracetamol intoxication lead to histological and biochemical deteriorations. The treatment with methanolic leaf extract of C. gigantea reduced the elevated levels of SGOT, SGPT, ALP, TB and also reversed the hepatic damage towards normal which further supports the hepatoprotective activity of leaf extract of C. gigantea.

CONCLUSIONS

The methanolic extract of leaves of C. gigantea at doses of 100 mg/kg bw and 200 mg/kg bw have significant effect on liver of paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity model in rats.

Anticancer effect of the extracts from Polyalthia evecta against human hepatoma cell line (HepG2)

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the anticancer activity of Polyalthia evecta (P. evecta) (Pierre) Finet & Gagnep against human hepatoma cell line (HepG2).

METHODS

The anticancer activity was based on (a) the cytotoxicity against human hepatoma cells (HepG2) assessed using a neutral red assay and (b) apoptosis induction determined by evaluation of nuclei morphological changes after DAPI staining. Preliminary phytochemical analysis of the crude extract was assessed by HPLC analysis.

RESULTS

The 50% ethanol-water crude leaf extract of P. evecta (EW-L) showed greater potential anticancer activity with high cytotoxicity [IC50 = (62.8 ± 7.3)µg/mL] and higher selectivity in HepG2 cells than normal Vero cells [selective index (SI) = 7.9]. The SI of EW-L was higher than the positive control, melphalan (SI = 1.6) and the apoptotic cells (46.4 ± 2.6) % induced by EW-L was higher than the melphalan (41.6 ± 2.1)% (P<0.05). The HPLC chromatogram of the EW-L revealed the presence of various kinds of polyphenolics and flavonoids in it.

CONCLUSIONS

P. evecta is a potential plant with anticancer activity. The isolation of pure compounds and determination of the bioactivity of individual compounds will be further performed.

Hepatoprotective effect of Origanum vulgare in Wistar rats against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity

The effect of an aqueous extract of Origanum vulgare (OV) leaves extract on CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity was investigated in normal and hepatotoxic rats. To evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of OV, rats were divided into six groups: control group, O. vulgare group, carbon tetrachloride (CCl4; 2 ml/kg body weight) group, and three treatment groups that received CCl4 and OV at doses of 50, 100, 150 mg/kg body weight orally for 15 days. Alanine amino transferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and aspartate amino transferase (AST) in serum, lipid peroxide (LPO), GST, CAT, SOD, GPx, GR, and GSH in liver tissue were estimated to assess liver function. CCl4 administration led to pathological and biochemical evidence of liver injury as compared to controls. OV administration led to significant protection against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in dose-dependent manner, maximum activity was found in CCl4 + OV3 (150 mg/kg body weight) groups and changes in the hepatocytes were confirmed through histopathological analysis of liver tissues. It was also associated with significantly lower serum ALT, ALP, and AST levels, higher GST, CAT, SOD, GPx, GR, and GSH level in liver tissue. The level of LPO also decreases significantly after the administration of OV leaves extract. The biochemical observations were supplemented with histopathological examination of rat liver sections. Thus, the study suggests O. vulgare showed protective activity against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats and might be beneficial for the liver toxicity.

Fucosterol inhibits matrix metalloproteinase expression and promotes type-1 procollagen production in UVB-induced HaCaT cells

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation damages human skin and causes skin diseases such as epidermal hyperplasia, sunburn, inflammatory responses and photoaging. Photoaging is associated with upregulated matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression and downregulated collagen synthesis. Fucosterol, which is isolated from marine brown algae, has been reported to possess antioxidant and anticancer activities; however, its effects on photoaging are unknown. This study assessed the effects of fucosterol on photoaging and investigated its mechanisms of action in UV-irradiated immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot analysis and 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate assay. Our results showed that fucosterol attenuated UV-induced MMP and inflammatory cytokine expression by deactivating mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) induced by reactive oxygen species. Fucosterol also increased type-I procollagen and antioxidant enzyme expression. Taken together, fucosterol regulates the expression of MMPs and type-I procollagen in UV-irradiated HaCaT by modulating MAPK, suggesting it as a potential candidate for prevention and treatment of skin aging.

In vivo antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of methanolic extracts of Daucus carota seeds in experimental animals

OBJECTIVE

To assess the In vivo antioxidFant and hepatoprotective activity of methanolic extract of Daucus carota (D. carota) seeds in experimental animals.

METHODS

Methanolic extracts of D. carota seeds is used for hepatoprotection assessment. Oxidative stress were induced in rats by thioacetamide 100 mg/kg s.c, in four groups of rats (two test, standard and toxic control). Two test groups received D. carota seeds extract (DCSE) at doses of 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg. Standard group received silymarin (25 mg/kg) and toxic control received only thioacetamide. Control group received only vehicle. On the 8th day animals were sacrificed and liver enzyme like serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were estimated in blood serum and antioxidant enzyme like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GRD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) were estimated in liver homogenate.

RESULTS

A significant decrease in SGPT, SGOT and ALP levels was observed in all drug treated groups as compared to thioacetamide group (P < 0.001) and in case of antioxidant enzyme a significant (P < 0.001) increase in SOD, CAT, GRD, GPX and GST was observed in all drug treated groups as compared with thioacetamide group. But in case of LPO a significant (P < 0.001) reduction was observed as compared to toxic control group.

CONCLUSIONS

DCSE has contributed to the reduction of oxidative stress and the protection of liver in experimental rats.