Hepatoprotective properties of extensively studied medicinal plant active constituents: possible common mechanisms.

AbstractContext: We focused on certain plant active constituents considered to be the most promising/studied for liver disease and that were critically investigated from the basic science point of view and, to some extent, the clinical one. Due to insufficient pharmacological data, most of the herbal formulations containing these molecules cannot be recommended for the treatment of liver disease.Objective: To present the most promising compounds tested experimentally and/or clinically and describe in brief popular models in experimental testing of potential hepatoprotective compounds.Methods: A literature search using Web of Science (WOS), PubMed, and Google search was performed.Results: Focusing on a few herbal hepatoprotective active constituents is useful to health professionals working in the field of therapeutics to develop evidence-based hepatoprotective agents by conducting research on pure chemical structures or on molecular modifications using computational chemistry. This review demonstrates tha...