Hepatoprotecttve Effect Of Methanol Extract Of Justicia Carnea Leaves On Carbon Tetrachloride-Intoxicated Albino Rats:- Iwuoha, Amarach G

ABSTRACT Hepatoprotective effect of methanol extract of Justicia carnea leaves on carbon tetrachloride intoxicated albino rats was investigated. A total ofthirty-five female albino rats were used for the study. The animals were grouped into 7 groups (I-VII) of 5 rats each.Carbon tetrachloride (0.5 mg/kg bw 1:1 v/v in olive oil) was used to induce hepatotoxicity. Group I served as normal control which received only feed and water, group II served as negative control which receiving 0.5mg/kg bw ofCCI4 alone, group III served as extract control which received lOOOmg/kg bw of methanol extract of Justicia carnea, groups IV, V and VI received 200, 500 and 1000 mg/kg b. W of methanol extract of J. carnea while group VII received lOOmg/kg bw of silymarin as a standard drug. The animals were sacrificed after 21 days of treatment, blood and organ (liver) was collected and the serum liver marker enzymes, antioxidant parameters, lipid peroxidation level and Histopathology ofthe liver were evaluated. The activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin concentration showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in group treated with CCI4 only when compared with the normal control while total protein and albumin concentration showed a significant (p<0.05) decrease in the group treated with CCI4 only when compared with the normal control. However, groups pre-treated with different doses of 200, 500,and lOOOmg/kg bw of J.carnea showed a significant (p<0.05) decrease in the activities of ALT, AST, ALP, and bilirubin level while total protein and Albumin concentration increased significantly (p<0.05) when compared with the rats treated with CCI4 alone. There was a significant (p<0.05) decrease in the activities ofsuperoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and reduced glutathione (GSH) concentration in the group treated with CCI4 alone when compared with the normal control, but the activities of SOD, CAT and GSH concentration showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in the groups pre-treated with different concentrations of the extract when compared with the group that received CC14 alone. However, the group treated with CCI4 alone showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in serum MDA levels when compared with the normal control while the groups pre-treated with 200, 500 and 1000 mg/kg bw of methanol extract of J.carnea showed a significant (p<0.05) decrease in serum MDA levels when compared with the group that received CC14 alone. Comparing the result of the different concentrations of extract with that ofthe standard drug used in the study, the group treated with lOOOmg/kg bw showed a better efficacy than the drug, in most of the parameters studied. Histopathological examinations of sections of the liver collected from the different groups showed that the normal control had a normal liver architecture when compared with the group treated with CCI4 alone which showed a diffuse vacuolar degeneration and coagulative necrosis of the hepatocytes including mild fibrosis of the peri-lobular connective tissue. However, the groups treated with different doses of J.carnea extract showed lesser necrosis and a better liver architecture than the group treated with CCI4 alone. The results ofthis study suggestthat the methanol extract of Justicia carnea may exhibit antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties that may be effective in the management ofliver toxicity