Antioxidative burst and hepatoprotective effects of ethanol root extract ofHippocratea africanaagainst paracetamol-induced liver injury

Abstract

Context: Hippocratea africana (Willd.) Loes. ex Engl. (Celastraceae) root is used traditionally as an antipoison or antidote to treat liver diseases. Objective: To evaluate antioxidative burst and hepatoprotective potentials of H. africana against paracetamol-induced liver injury in rats. Materials and method: Antioxidative burst activity of the extract (1-100 mg/ml) in whole blood, neutrophils and macrophages was investigated using a luminol/lucigenin-based chemiluminescence assay. The hepatoprotective effect of the extract (200-600 mg/kg) was evaluated by the assay of liver function parameters, antioxidant enzymes and histopathological studies of the liver. GC-MS analyses of hexane and dichloromethane fractions were also carried out. Results and discussion: The root extract/fractions exerted pronounced inhibition of oxidative burst activity in whole blood, neutrophils (intracellular and extracellular) and macrophages (3.04-99.70%). The administration of the root extract caused significant (p50.05-0.001) reduction of high levels of liver enzymes (AST, ALT and ALP), total cholesterol, direct and total bilirubin as well as elevation of serum levels of total protein, albumin and antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPx and GSH). Histology of the liver sections of extract and silymarin-treated animals showed reductions in the pathological features compared to the paracetamol-treated animals. The chemical pathological changes were consistent with histopathological observations suggesting a marked hepatoprotective effect of the root extract of H. africana. The GC-MS analysis revealed some pharmacologically active compounds. Conclusion:The results show that the root extract of H. africana has hepatoprotective potential probably due to its antioxidative burst activity.

Acetaminophen induces JNK/p38 signaling and activates the caspase-9-3-dependent cell death pathway in human mesenchymal stem cells

“…APAP can stimulate elevations in ROS levels causing cellular oxidative stress, which results in hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity ( 16 , 63 ). Therefore, several antioxidant drugs that prevent APAP-induced cellular damage have been investigated ( 64 – 68 ). Vitamin C, an antioxidant, was used to inhibit the cytotoxic effects of APAP in the hMSCs in the present study.…”

Isolation and characterization of bioactive xanthones from Hippocratea africana (Willd.)Loes.ex Engl. (Celastraceae)

“…The ethanol extract of H. Africana roots was shown to exhibit good anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-pyretic properties (Okokon et al, 2008), antioxidative burst and hepatoprotective effects (Okokon et al, 2013). Other species of Hippocratea which possess anti-inflammatory activity are H. excels Kunth (Perez et al, 1995) and H. indica Willd.…”

“…(Ogbole et al, 2007). Few previous chemical studies are reported in the literature about H. africana, concerning fatty acid content J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f (Ita and Ngochindo, 2014) and volatile components of roots (Okokon et al, 2013). In previous studies on Hippocratea genus, isolated compounds from H. excels include lupeol acetate, hippocrateine I-III, mayteine, pentacyclic tritepenoids, β-sitosterol, epicatechin, friedelin, canophyllal, sesquiterpene evinonate alkaloids, as well as benzyl isothiocyanates (Calzada and Mata, 1995;Navarrete et al, 2002;Mena-Rejon et al, 2007).…”

Mechanisms of hepatoprotective effects of white and black garlic extracts against preneoplastic lesions induced by N-nitrosodiethylamine in rats

“…Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (22) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (23) of the liver enzymes were chemically determined using specific kits. Serum total protein (TP) was chemically determined (24). Serum albumin (Alb) and globulins (Glb) were determined according to the method of Fernandez et al (25).…”