STUDY OF THE HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF EXTRACTS OF GENTIANA ASСLEPIADEA IN THE ACUTE TETRACHLOROMETHANE HEPATITIS MODEL
Authors: Hrytsyk N. Yu. , Ersteniuk H. M. 
Published: January 2023

Nowadays, diseases of the hepatobiliary system occupy a special place among diseases of internal organs and systems. At present, the most commonly used hepatoprotectors are herbal remedies. Due to the content of flavonoids, polyphenols, trace elements and other groups of biologically active substances, herbal preparations have antioxidant, antiviral, membrane-stabilizing and choleretic effects. Species of the genus Gentiana, whose underground and above-ground parts contain biologically active substances of various chemical structures, are promising for research.

The aim: to study the hepatoprotective activity of Gentiana аsсlepiadea root extracts on the model of acute tetrachloromethane hepatitis.

Materials and methods. Hepatoprotective activity was studied on the model of acute tetrachloromethane hepatitis. Experiments were performed on 36 white non-linear sexually mature rats weighing 170-240 g. Animals are divided into 6 groups: 1st group – intact animals; 2nd group – control pathology; groups 3-5 - animals treated with thick and liquid extracts of Gentiana аsсlepiadea; 6th group - animals that received the comparative drug Silymarin. The effectiveness of the hepatoprotective action of the studied extracts was determined by the survival rate of animals, the Liver Mass Coefficient, biochemical parameters of blood serum and liver homogenate.

Research results. The results of biochemical studies show that a single injection of tetrachloromethane was accompanied by the development of acute toxic damage to the liver in a group of animals with a control pathology, as evidenced by a 3.5 times increase in the activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in blood serum, a 2.45 times increase in the activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and 1.6 times increase in the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), the level of TBK-reactants in blood serum and liver homogenate - 1.8 and 2.5 times, respectively, compared to the indicators of the group of intact animals. The use of extracts of the roots of Gentiana asslepiadea and the comparative drug Silymarin in experimental hepatitis was accompanied by a noticeable decrease in pathological manifestations and led to a significant decrease in the studied parameters relative to the values in animals with control pathology. The most pronounced hepatoprotective activity was established when using thick and liquid extracts of the roots of Gentiana asslepiadea at a dose of 25 mg/kg of animal body weight, as evidenced by a decrease in the activity of the studied enzymes in the blood serum of the experimental animals: by 2.42 and 2.08 times of ALT, by 2.05 and 1.92 times of AST, by 1.44 and 1.37 times of ALP, the level of TBC-reactants in blood serum by 1.75 and 1.58 times, and in the liver homogenate by 1.90 and 1.78 times, respectively. Silymarin had a slightly lower effect on the development of cytolysis syndrome, reducing the activity of ALT by 1.92 times, AST by 1.81 times, ALP by 1.32 times, the level of TBC-reactants in serum and liver homogenate by 1.52 and 1.68 times. The use of Gentiana asslepiadea root extract at a dose of 50 mg/kg of animal body weight did not lead to an increase in hepatoprotective activity.

Conclusions. In the conditions of acute toxic hepatitis, which is caused by carbon tetrachloride, Gentiana asslepiadea root extracts show a pronounced hepatoprotective activity, which was higher in comparison with the drug Silymarin.