Hepatoprotective Activity of Aqueous and Methanolic Extracts of Capparis decidua Stems Against Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Liver Damage in Rats

摘要

The aqueous and methanolic extracts of Capparis deddua stems locally known as Altoundob were screened for their hepatoprotective activity against CC1_4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. This plant is used in traditional system medicine in the treatment of jaundice. Yet, no systematic studies on its hepatoprotective activity have been reported. The hepatotoxicity produced by administration of CC1_4 in paraffin oil (1:9 v/v) at a dose of 0.2 mL kg~-1 for 10 days, was found to be inhibited by simultaneous oral administration of aqueous and methanolic extracts of C. deddua stems (200,400 mg kg~-1 b.wt.) for 10 days, with evidence of decreased level of serum aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase, alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin. In addition, the concurrent administration of both extracts with CC1_4 for 10 days masked the liver fatty changes induced by the hepatotoxic compound observed in the intoxicated control rats. The results were compared with the hepatoprotective effect of the standard drug silymarin. The preliminary phytochemical screening of the powdered plant showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, sterols, saponins, cyanogenic glycosides and cumarins as major conistituents of the studied extracts. The results