HEPATOCURATIVE EFFECT OF STERCULIA SCAPHILGERA ON HEPATOTOXICITY INDUCED BY ETHANOL : CARBONTETRA CHLORIDE

摘要

Large group of drugs on repeated administration produce liver toxicity. Sometimes the bioactivation of parent drug produces more toxic substances. There are several indigenous polyherbal formulations enjoying reputation of being hepatoprotectives. Sterculia scaphigera Wall, a tropical herb of the Sterculiaceae family, is mainly distributed in such countries as Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, China, etc. The pharmacological studies were carried out using ethanolic extract obtained by cold extraction method for seven day. The seeds of Sterculia scaphigera contained alkaloids, amino acids, flavonoids, tannins, and carbohydrates. After Phytochemical screening of ethanolic extract of Sterculia scaphigera, carried out as described by Harborne (1974), it is found that the antioxidant activity or the inhibition of the generation of free radicals is important in the protection against ethanol-CCI4 induced hepatopathy. Finally, tablets of powdered fruit of Sterculia scaphigera were prepared by wet granulation by using 1% acacia as a binding solution. The tablets were evaluated for various physical parameters including weight variation, friability, hardness, swelling index etc and were found to comply with requirements of Indian Pharmacopoeia.