Pharmacological and toxicological screening of the potential hepatoprotective activity of some egyptian plants

Abstract EN

Liver diseases remain one of the serious worldwide health problems.

Herbs are known to play a vital role in the management of various liver diseases.

The present study is an attempt to elucidate the in vivo and in vitro hepatoprotective properties of some Egyptian plant extracts.

Ethanolic extracts of thirty selected Egyptian plants were assessed in vitro for their potential antioxidant properties using DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay.

The best twelve plants extracts showing highest antioxidant properties were evaluated in vivo for their hepatoprotective activities against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced toxicity in rats and compared with silymarin as a standard heptoprotective agent.

The best in vivo hepatoprotective activities were observed with the extracts of Rubus Sanctus and Magnolia grandiflora.

These two plant extracts were investigated in vitro on isolated rat hepatocytes for their potential hepatoprotection.

Also, these two plant extracts were further subjected to pharmacognostic investigations and fractionation to identify their major components.

The fractionated extracts of both plants were evaluated for their hepatoprotective activities against CCl4 induced cytotoxicity in isolated rat hepatocytes and compared with the corresponding total extracts.

The total extract of Rubus sanctus gave the highest significant hepatoprotective activity compared with its fractions and with M.

grandiflora total extract and fractions.

In conclusion, the results of this study provide some useful information about the studied Egyptian plants and their role in hepatic injury prevention.

The Egyptian Rubus sanctus total extract possesses a highly promising hepatoprotective effect.