Abstract

The present study was carried out to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of ethanol extract of roots of Tetracera akara against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. Ethanol extract of roots of T. akara (50, 150, and 300 mg/kg) was administered orally once daily during the study. The hepatoprotective effect of the extract was assessed using various biochemical parameters of hepatic injury like alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, γ-glutamyl transferase, serum bilirubin, triglycerides, total cholesterol and total protein along with the estimation of antioxidant status of the liver tissue (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione and malondialdehyde levels) and histopathological evaluation. The substantially elevated serum enzymatic levels of serum transaminases, alkaline phosphatase and total bilirubin as a result of carbon tetrachloride administration were significantly restored towards normal by the plant extract. The ethanol extract significantly increased the levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase and non-enzymatic antioxidant glutathione in the drug-treated group. The histopathological observations were in correlation with the biochemical findings. Animals treated with higher doses of plant extract showed almost normal hepatic architecture with normal hepatocytes and reduced steatosis, apoptosis, centrilobular necrosis, ballooning degeneration, fatty deposition, which provided further evidence to the hepatoprotective activity and the most effective dose was found to be 300 mg/kg. In conclusion, Tetracera akara extract exerted hepatoprotective effect against acute hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride in Wistar rats, which could be due to the bioactive phytoconstituents present in the extract and these findings provide impetus for the development of a novel hepatoprotective herbal drug.