Study the hepatoprotective effect of the methanolic extract of Plumbago auriculata Lam. against CCl4-induced hepatocyte damage in mice

The liver is an important organ in the body; its diseases are considered the major causes of morbidity and mortality around the world. Hepatotoxic chemicals cause damage to liver cells. Medicinal plants have a powerful hepatoprotective effect. This study has been aimed to assess the potential hepatoprotective effect of the methanolic extract of Plumbago auriculata Lam. against carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) - induced hepatocyte damage in albino mice. The methanolic extract of the plant was subjected to preliminary phytochemical analysis to determine the presence of secondary metabolites according to standard protocols. The acute toxicity study was carried out to measure the LD 50 . Swiss albino mice were divided into 4 groups treated intraperitoneally (IP) once daily for 7 days; the first group was a negative control, while the second group, considered as a CCl 4 model, received a single dose of carbon tetrachloride during the last day. The third group received 500 mg/kg of body weight of methanolic extract of P. auriculata, and the last group received 100 mg/kg of body weight of standard silymarin, after 2 h of treatment, on the last day, all animals (except negative control group) have received CCl 4 at a dose of 1 mL/kg of body weight. Biochemical analysis of collected blood and histopathological examination were performed. Results revealed that the preliminary phytochemical screening of the methanolic extract of the plant confirmed the presence of many biologically active secondary metabolites like flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids, saponins, glycosides and phenols and LD 50 of the extract was 2.5 g/kg. The CCl 4- intoxicated mice showed an increase in biochemical enzyme levels (ALT and AST) compared with the negative control group. The extract of 500 mg/kg revealed a significant reduction (p <= 0.05) in enzyme activities. The histopathological analysis of plant extract and silymarin-treated groups revealed a decrease in the pathological features compared with the CCl 4 - intoxicated group. It was concluded that the extract of P. auriculata has a significant effect on hepatoprotection against CCl 4 -induced hepatocyte damage and this may be because of the combined effects of the bioactive compositions of plant extract.