Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International

Traditional plants have been used to treat hepatotoxicity by folk medicine practitionars. Trichosanthes dioica (TD) has been used in folk medicine to alleviate several diseases. In the present study, the ethanolic extract of Trichosanthes dioica leaves has been utilized to study its activity on paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

Swiss albino mice (25-30 g) and SD Rats (140–200 g) were used. Acute hepatotoxicity was induced by paracetamol (800 mg/kg body weight), administered once daily for one week whereas the test extract was given orally throughout the whole experiment at 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight. Silymarin (100 mg/kg b.w.) was given orally as standard hepatoprotective drug. The degree of hepatoprotection was determined by the estimation of biochemical parameters like ALT, AST, ALP, bilirubin, total protein and albumin level.

The increased plasma levels of hepatic marker enzymes including AST, ALT, ALP and bilirubin found in the paracetamol control group, which may be due to the liver cell destruction or changes in the cell membrane permeability indicating severity of hepatocellular damage induced by paracetamol. Pre-treatment with TD as well as standard hepatoprotective agent silymarin recovered the increased plasma levels of these hepatic enzymes to the reduced levels.

The results of the study provide evidence that the Trichosanthes dioica leaves has shown hepatoprotective activity against paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity in rats.