Evaluation of hepatoprotective activity of ethanol extract of Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt. leaves on experimental rats by acute and chronic models

Abstract

Coccinia grandis Linn. (Cucurbitaceae) is a climbing perennial branched herb, distributed throughout India. Other plants under the same family have been reported for their hepatoprotective activity. The aim of this work was to study the hepatoprotective effect of crude ethanolic extract from the leaves of C. grandis against liver damage induced by Paracetamol and CCl4 in rats. Administration of Paracetamol (750 mg/kg/day) and CCl4 (3 ml/kg/day) showed a marked increase in SGOT, SGPT, ALP, bilirubin (total, direct), total proteins, globulin, cholesterol and decrease in albumin in comparison with the normal control group. The effect of ethanol extract of C. grandis at 150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg doses reduced the serum activities caused by Paracetamol and CCl4, which were observed to be statistically significant when compared with that of the control group. The activity exhibited/inhibited by the plant extract was found to be comparable to that of the standard hepatoprotective drug, Silymarin. Silymarin provided a better inhibition or exhibition of the biochemical parameters induced by paracetamol and carbon tetrachloride in rats. The activity may be due to the presence of either alkaloids or triterpenoids or reducing sugars or their combinations, as obtained from the preliminary phytochemical screening of the leaves of the plant. The extract showed no signs of acute toxicity up to a dose level of 3.2 g kg−1 in rats by oral route. Thus, it could be concluded that ethanolic extract of C. grandis leaves possessed significant hepatoprotective activity.