Abstract

T. Prakash1*, Snehal Dayalal Fadadu , Uday Raj Sharma , V. Surendra , Divakar Goli , Perfect Stamina and D. Kotresha

The study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of pre-treatment with ethanolic extract of leaves of Rhododendron arboreum against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rat model. Liver damage was induced in experimental animals by administering CCl4. The ethanolic extract of R. arboreum (40, 60 and 100 mg/kg, po) was given for five days. Silymarin (100 mg/kg, po) was given as the reference drug. Hepatoprotective effect was studied by assaying the activities of serum marker enzymes like SGPT, SGOT, ALP, direct and total bilirubin, triglycerides, cholesterol and estimation of ascorbic acid in urine. The activities of all the marker enzymes registered a significant elevation in CCl4 treated rats, which were significantly recovered towards an almost normal level in animals co-administered with ethanolic extract of leaves of R. arboreum at a dose of 60 and 100 mg/kg. Ethanolic extract of leaves of R. arboreum prevented decrease in the excretion of ascorbic acid in CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Histopathological analysis confirmed the biochemical investigations. The results indicate that leaves of R. arboreum possess hepatoprotective property possibly because of its reported anti-oxidant activity. This property may be attributed to the quercetin related flavonoids, saponins and phenolic compounds present in the leaves of R. arboreum.