Hepatoprotective activity of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius tubers against paracetamol-induced liver damage in rats

Abstract

To study the hepatoprotective activity of methanol and aqueous extracts of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius tubers against paracetamol induced liver damage in rats. Hepatotoxicity was induced by paracetamol and the biochemical parameters such as serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (sGPT), serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (sGOT) and serum alkaline phosphatase (sALP), serum bilirubin (SB) and histopathological changes in liver were studied along with silymarin and Liv-52 as standard hepatoprotective agents. The phytochemical investigation of the extracts showed presence of carbohydrates, proteins, steroids and flavonoids. Pre-treatment of the rats with methanol and aqueous extract prior to paracetamol administration caused a significant reduction in the values of sGOT, sGPT, sALP and sB (P<0.01) almost comparable to the silymarin and Liv-52. The hepatoprotective was confirmed by histopathological examination of the liver tissue of control and treated animals. From the results it can be concluded that Amorphophallus paeoniifolius possesses hepatoprotective effect against paracetamol-induced liver damage in rats.