An in Vivo Evaluation of the Hepatoprotective Potential of Triphala in CCl4 Induced Hepatic Injured Rodent Model

Abstract

Liver injury, also known as hepatotoxicity, is a serious health concern since it can irreversibly harm this significant organ's function, leading to life-threatening liver cirrhosis or liver failure. Natural medicinal plants have long been known to play essential roles in up-to-date medication discovery and they are considered as enormous sources of treatment now. Regarding the critical situation of hepatotoxic patients around the globe, among numerous plants with numerous potentials, “Triphala” is a popular and highly effective, strong Ayurvedic and Indian traditional medication with exclusive hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties. Triphala is a Sanskrit word that means three fruits and so, as the name, it is a mixture of an equal amount of the dried fruits of three plants: Emblica officinalis (Amalaki), Terminalia chebula (Haritaki) and Terminalia bellerica (Bibhitaki). In this experiment, carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was used to induce hepatotoxicity and then the hepatoprotective activity of Triphala was assessed through determining the results of different parameters. Afterward observing the results, it was found that the plant can effectively reverse the disturbed pathological state toward healthy status to a different extent in a dependent manner. Here both medium dose and high dose can significantly reverse (p<0.05) the disturbed pathological state towards a healthy pathological state. Moreover, any safety concern or possibility of side effects was not aroused throughout the investigation. Therefore, Triphala is considered to have a major aptitude towards hepatic protection and can be counted as an alternative to the marketed synthetic drug, silymarin, with more safety and quite equal efficacy. To conclude, more vigorous future study is needed so that this promising plant can be incorporated into the hepatotoxic treatment arena.