Summary: | Objective: To evaluate the antioxidant and thioacetamide induced liver toxicity using
extracts of aerial parts of Balanites roxburghii (B. roxburghii).
Methods: The in-vitro antioxidant activity was estimated for different extracts on superoxide, hydroxyl and 1,1- diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radicals and the hepatoprotective
activity of the selected plant extracts was evaluated by using thioacetamide-induced liver
intoxication in rats model.
Results: There were no visible signs of toxicity, mortality and no behavioral changes
were observed for the selected plant extracts (hydroalcoholic, ethyl acetate and hexane) at
2 000 mg/kg body weight. The plant extracts showed dose-dependent effectiveness in the
inhibition of free radicals generation and hepatoprotective nature. The hydroalcoholic
extract showed more scavenging activity as compared to other extracts with IC50 values
of (332.50 ± 1.30) mg, (302.00 ± 1.50) mg and (230.40 ± 1.10) mg on superoxide, hydroxyl and 1,1- diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radicals. Aerial parts of B. roxburghii at
three dose levels such as 125 mg/kg, 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg showed dose dependent
percentage protection as standard drugs and on enhancement activities of serum
biomarker enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin and total protein) observed in thioacetamide-induced hepatotoxicity. The hydroalcoholic extract showed significant results at 500 mg/kg body weight as
compared to other extracts (P < 0.05) with 65.65%, 62.39%, 59.89%, 55.90% and
54.61% on aspartate aminotransferase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, total
bilirubin and total protein levels.
Conclusions: It was observed that the B. roxburghii plant extracts are non-toxic and
have capacity to restore the physiological changes caused by the hepatotoxic compounds.
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