Liver Enzyme Levels of Paracetamol Induced Hepatotoxic Rats Treated with Aqueous Leaf Extract of Artocarpus Altilis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Artocarpus altilis on the liver enzyme levels of paracetamol induced hepatotoxic albino rats. Paracetamol otherwise known as Acetaminophen is widely used as an analgesic and antipyretic drug worldwide. It is commonly abused as it is an over the counter (OTC) drug. N‐Acetyl‐p‐benzoquinone imine (NAPQI), an intermediate product of acetaminophen produced in the presence of cytochrome‐p450 causes hepatic damage and tubular necrosis in the kidney in both humans and experimental animals. In this situation, a large amount of NAPQI is metabolized in the presence of cytochrome P450s, which overwhelms the activity of reduced Glutathione (GSH) leading to hepatotoxicity. Acetaminophen’s clinical and biochemical side effects are well known and it is therefore used as a reference compound to assess the strengths and weaknesses of medicinal plants in ameliorating or preventing its effect in the liver. Twenty‐five (25) albino rats were used hence acclimatized for fourteen days. The experimental animals were divided into five groups of five rats each (control group, negative control group, 250mg/kg, 500mg/kg and Vitamin E). The albino rats were starved for 18 hours before pretreatment with single oral dose of paracetamol (2000mg/kg). Food and water were given ad libitum. They were then administered with the different doses of the leaf extract of Arthocarpus altilis and Vitamin E (an antioxidant) for three (3) days. After two hours of last administration of the extract, they were sacrificed anesthetically using chloroform and blood collected through cardiac puncture. The result showed that there was no significant difference (p≥0.05) between 250mg/kg, 500mg/kg and Vitamin E groups in the concentrations of ALP and ALT. The result also showed that there was a significant (p≤0.05) increase in the levels of serum Alanine Amino Transferase (ALT), Aspartate Amino Transferase (AST) and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) in the paracetamol treated groups compared to all the extract treated and control groups. Serum levels of all the liver enzymes were significantly (p≤0.05) reduced in all the treated groups especially the highest dose (500mg/kg) of Artocarpus altilis (breadfruit) leaf extract compared to the negative control. It has been reported that the leaf of Artocarpus altilis possesses in addition to other medicinal properties, an antioxidant potential. This sub‐acute study showed that artocarpus altilis possesses ameliorative effect on the investigated Liver biomarkers since the liver enzyme levels of AST, ALT and ALP reduced by the end of this study