Hepatoprotective activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Cissampelos pareira linn. leaves against CCl4-induced acute and chronic hepatotoxicity

Background and objective Cissampelos pareira L. is a medicinal plant distributed across the tropics and used across the world traditionally for curing various pathological conditions. Hence, the present study has been carried out to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of hydroalcoholic extract of C. pareira L. Materials and methods C. pareira L. leaves were extracted with a hydroalcoholic solvent. The resulting extract was subjected to an acute oral toxicity test on the basis of the OECD 423 guideline. Afterward, the selected dose of C. pareira hydroalcoholic extract (CPHE) was checked for hepatoprotective activity against CCl4-induced acute and chronic hepatotoxicity. Measurements of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin were performed. At the end of the study, histopathological analysis of livers of the animals of various treatment groups was carried out. Result and conclusion Based on the acute oral toxicity study, three doses of CPHE were selected, namely, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg. Administration of CPHE at 200 and 400 mg/kg prevented an increase in serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, and bilirubin levels against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity. The histopathological investigation of the portal triad structure of the liver clearly indicated that CPHE at 400 mg/kg showed significantly greater reduction in the necrotized area and normal appearance of the central vein, Kupffer cells and hepatocyte cells with no inflammatory cells. The results indicated that CPHE at 400 mg/kg protected the hepatic cells’ membrane integrity against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity.