Abstract

QUANTITATIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL ESTIMATION AND EVALUATION OF HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF ANDROGRAPHIS PANICULATA AGAINST CCL4 INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY

*Dr. Rama Vemula

ABSTRACT

A large number of populations suffer from hepatic diseases of unknown origin due to various reasons. The development of anti-hepatotoxic drugs as a major thrust area has drawn the attention of workers in the field of natural product research, as use of synthetic drugs may cause serious side effects. The present research was aimed, to study the in vivo hepatoprotective activity of methanolic leaf extract of Andrographis paniculata, that was used traditionally in Mulugu & Mahabubabad districts of Telangana, against carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) induced hepatotoxicity animal model and standard drug silymarin. The level of serum aspartate aminotransferase (SGOT), alanine aminotransferase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin(T.BILI.) were determined to assay hepatotoxicity. CCL4 administration caused severe hepatic damage in rats as evidenced by elevated serum SGOT, SGPT, ALP and (T.BILI.) Levels. The Andrographis paniculata and silymarin administration prevented the toxic effect of CCL4 on the above serum parameters in both preventive and curative models. The present study concludes that, methanolic extract of Andrographis paniculata has significant hepatoprotective activity against CCL4 induced hepatotoxicity, which support folkloric utilization and further confirmed by the histological investigation. The observed activity may be associated with its high bioactive compounds including flavonoids, alkaloids, triterpenoids, glycosides, steroids and carbohydrates.

Keywords: Total Phenolic Content, Total Flavonoid Content, Total Alkaloid Content, Hepatoprotective Activity, Histopathology. CCL4.