Evaluation of comparative antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of three commonly used polyherbal formulations

Abstract

Background: Out of the major health issues worldwide, liver disorders are significant. Liver diseases have become one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality. Besides viruses, liver disorders can arise due to xenobiotics, excessive drug therapy, environmental pollution and alcohol intoxication but drug-induced hepatotoxicity appears to be the most common contributing factor. Modern medicine introduced a bulk of hepatoprotective therapies yet they have various side effects. Despite the widespread use of the traditional medicine, there is a lack of scientific evidence on their efficacy and safety. Therefore, this study was undertaken to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of three commercially available formulations namely Jigarine, iksir-e-jigar and sharbat-e-deenar. In the present study these three randomly selected polyherbal formulations were investigated for their potential hepatoprotective (in-vivo) and antioxidant activities (in vitro). Hepatoprotective activity was evaluated in paracetamol-induced liver damage in Swiss albino male mice model. Morphological parameter (liver weight), biochemical parameters (ALT, AST, ALP, TB, and TP) and histological parameters (macroscopic and microscopic changes of liver tissues) were evaluated. Test polyherbal formulations showed significant (<0.01) antioxidant activity as measured by DPPH free radical scavenging method and significant hepatoprotection as well. The present findings verified the efficacy of polyherbal formulations in paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Therefore, it may be suggested that a dose adjustment may be necessary to optimize the effects in clinical settings.