Preventive Effects of Picrorhiza kurroa on D-Galactosamine-Induced Hepatitis in Rats.

The present study examined the preventive effects of Picrorhiza kurroa, an ayurvedic medicinal plant, on D-galactosamineinduced hepatitis in rats, an animal model of both drug-induced hepatitis and viral hepatitis of human beings. Levels of protein, glycoprotein, cholesterol, phospholipids, and lipid peroxide products in plasma and erythrocyte membrane and the activities of erythrocyte membrane antiper-oxidative enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase were determined. Prior oral treatment with an alcoholic extract of Picrorhiza kurroa significantly prevented the D-galactosamine-induced decreases in the levels of protein and glycoprotein and in the activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase. A tendency to prevent the D-galactosamine-induced alterations in the levels of cholesterol, phospholipids and lipid peroxides was also observed. The antihepatotoxic potential of Picrorhiza kurroa might be ascribable to the antioxidant and hypolipidemic nature of Picrorhiza kurroa.