Hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties of marine halophyte Luminetzera racemosa bark extract in CCL(4) induced hepatotoxicity.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of Luminetzera racemosa (L. racemosa) bark extract.

METHODS

Wistar albino rats were divided into 6 groups: Group 1 served as control; Group 2 served as hepatotoxin (CCL(4) treated) group; Group 3 served as positive control (Silymarin) treated groups; Group 4, 5 and 6 served as (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg bw p.o.) L. racemosa bark extract treated groups. Moreover, in vitro antioxidant indexes, including DPPH, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (HRSA), NO, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), lipid hydroperoxide (LPO) and super oxide dismutase (SOD) were also analyzed in the bark extract.

RESULTS

The results suggested that, the level of serum glutamate oxyloacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatise (ALP), bilurubin, cholesterol, sugar and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly (P<0.05) increased in hepatotoxin treated rats when compared with the control group. But, the maximum reduction of SGOT [(225.36±13.65) IU/L], SGPT [(96.85±17.36) IU/L], ALP [(315.37±17.16) IU/L], bilirubin [(2.97±0.46) mg/dL], cholesterol [(163.73±17.54) mg/dL], sugar [(127.35±27.35) mg/dL] and LDH [(1 784.00±268.36) IU/L] were observed with 300 mg/kg bw of bark extract treated rats. Histopathological scores showed that, no visible changes were observed with high dose (300 mg/kg bw) of bark extract treated rats except mild fatty changes. The in vitro antioxidant assays showed that, the IC(50) values were observed as (44.17±6.87) μg/mL, (42.45±2.81)μg/mL, (62.37±3.98)μg/mL, (54.24±3.09)μg/mL, (87.25±5.90) μg/mL and (71.54±5.42)μg/mL for DPPH, HRSA, NO, FRAP, LPO and SOD radical scavenging activities, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities of the bark extract might be to the presence of unique chemical classes such as flavonoids, alkaloids and polyphenols.