Hepatoprotective Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Barks of Sterculia Foetida.L Against Paracetamol and Ethanol Induced Liver Injury in Rats

INTRODUCTION:Medicinal plants can be important sources of unknown chemical substances with potential therapeutic effects. Besides, the World Health Organization has estimated that over 75% of the world’s population still relies on plant-derived medicines, usually obtained from traditional healers, for basic health-care needs. The use of herbal medicines continues to expand rapidly across the world. Many people now take herbal medicines or herbal products for their health care in different national health-care settings. However, mass media reports of adverse events tend to be sensational and give a negative impression regarding the use of herbal medicines in general, rather than identifying the causes of these events, which may relate to a variety of issues. Now-a-days, the safety of herbal medicines has become a major concern to both national health authorities and the general public. AIM: Now-a-days, there is an increase in demand for herbal drugs due to its safety, efficacy and better therapeutic results and also due to its economic pricing as compared to allopathic drugs. The barks of the plant, Sterculia foetida.L was selected for the present study due to its, a) Easy availability, b) Good therapeutic activity, c) Degree of research work which is not done. Very less pharmacological studies have been carried out on the barks of Sterculia foetida.L. Hence, I have decided to choose the project on barks of Sterculia foetida.L, which includes studies on Pharmacognostical, Preliminary Phytochemical and its Pharmacological evaluation. OBJECTIVE: 1. Comparison of Hepatoprotective effect of standard group with toxic group 2. Comparison of Hepatoprotective effect of test groups (EESF) with toxic group as well as standard group. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: The present study was undertaken to determine the hepatoprotective activity of ethanolic extract of barks of Sterculia foetida.L. The pharmacognostical studies made on the powdered barks of Sterculia foetida.L like ash values, extractive values and loss on drying gave valuable information. This helped for correct identification of the plant. The preliminary phytochemical investigation showed the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, steroids and sterols, glycosides, saponins, tannins, flavanoids and phenolic compounds. The histopathological studies on isolated liver revealed that ethanolic extract of barks of Sterculia foetida.L reversed the liver damage caused by paracetamol and ethanol. The normal pattern of histology of liver was observed. The ethanolic extract of barks of Sterculia foetida.L contains phyto constituents like flavanoids, phenolic compounds and alkaloids which possess potent hepatoprotective activity. Based on the results obtained from the present study, it was brought to the conclusion that ethanolic exitract of barks of Sterculia foetida.L was a potent hepatoprotective agent.