OF HEPATOPROTECTIVE NATURAL PRODUCTS

The maintenance of a healthy liver is essential for the overall well being of an individual. Liver injury induced by toxins is more common nowadays. Herbal remedies are focused in the pharmaceutical industry to evolve a safe route for liver disorders. Therefore, hepatoprotective natural products such as Jatropha curcas, Foeniculum vulgare, Trigonella foenum graecum, Eclipta alba, Garcinia mangostana Linn is reviewed. ∗ Corresponding Author Introduction The liver plays an astonishing array of vital functions in the maintenance, performance and regulating homeostasis of the body. It is involved with almost all the biochemical pathways to growth, fight against disease, nutrient supply, energy provision and reproduction (1). Therefore, maintenance of a healthy liver is essential for the overall well being of an individual. Liver cell injury caused by various toxicants such as certain chemotherapeutic agents, carbon tetrachloride, thioacetamide etc., chronic alcohol consumption and microbes is well-studied. Since time immemorial, mankind has made the use of plants in the treatment of various ailments. The Indian Traditional Medicine like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani are predominantly based on the use of plant materials. Herbal drugs have gained importance and popularity in recent years because of their safety, efficacy and cost effectiveness. The association of medical plants with other plants in their habitat also influences their medicinal values in some cases. One of the important and well-documented uses of plant-products is their use as hepatoprotective agents. Hence, there is an ever increasing need for safe hepatoprotective agent (2). In spite of tremendous strides in modern medicine, there are hardly any drugs that stimulate liver function, offer protection to the liver from damage or help regeneration of hepatic cell (3). Many formulations containing herbal extracts are sold in the Indian market for liver disorders. But management of liver disorders by a simple and precise herbal drug is still an intriguing problem. Several Indian medicinal plants have been extensively used in the Indian traditional system of medicine for the management of liver disorder. Some of these plants have already been reported to posses strong antioxidant activity (4-6). Hepatoprotective natural products A large number of plants and formulations have been claimed to have hepatoprotective activity. Nearly 160 phytoconstituents from 101 plants have been claimed to possess liver protecting activity. In India, more than 87 plants are used in 33 patented and proprietary multi ingredient plant formulations (7). Development of plant based hepato protective drugs has been given importance in the global market. The present review is aimed at collecting and compiling data based on reported works on promising phytochemicals from medicinal plants that have been tested in hepato-toxicity models. The hepato protective activities of Jatropha curcas, Foeniculum vulgare, Trigonella foenum graecum, Eclipta alba, Garcinia mangostana Linn is reviewed. Jatropha curcas Jatropha curcas Linn (Family: Euphorbiaceae), is an evergreen shrub, indigenous to America, but cultivated in most parts of India. This evergreen plant is common in waste places throughout India, especially on the Coromandel Coast and in Travancore; in the southern parts it is cultivated chiefly for hedges in the Konkan, and also in Malay Peninsula. [8] Leaves are regarded as antiparasitc, applied to scabies; rubefacient for paralysis, rheumatism; also applied to hard tumours. Leaves also show antileukemic activity. [9] Compounds that have been isolated from Jatropha curcas leaves include the flavonoids apigenin and its glycosides vitexin and isovitexin, the sterols stigmasterol, α -D-sitosterol and its α -D-glucoside. [10 13]. Methanolic fraction of leaves of Jatropha curcas (MFJC) was evaluated against hepatocellular carcinoma induced by Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Marked Vishnu Priya V et al./Rec Res Sci Tech 2 (2010) 49-52 increase in lipid peroxide levels and concomitant decrease in enzymic antioxidants levels were observed in carcinoma induced rats, while methanolic fraction of Jatropha curcas treatment reversed the conditions to near normal levels. Liver histopathology showed that MFJC reduced the incidence of liver lesions, lymphocytic infiltrations and hepatic necrosis induced by AFB1 in rats. These results suggest that MFJC could protect liver against the AFB1-induced oxidative damage in rats (14 ).