Evaluation of the protective efficacy of Asteracantha longifolia on acetaminophen-induced liver damage in rats.

Shivashangari KS, Ravikumar V, Devaki T.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai-600 025, Tamil Nadu, India.

The effect of oral administration of methanolic extract of Asteracantha longifolia (AL) seeds on acetaminophen (APAP)-induced acute liver damage in rats was investigated. The activities of marker enzymes (aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, and gamma glutamyl transferase) and bilirubin level in serum and the levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and free fatty acids in both serum and liver were found to be increased when rats were challenged with APAP. This was also associated with a significant reduction of serum and tissue phospholipids. Pretreatment with AL extract prior to the administration of APAP prevented these alterations as evidenced by liver histopathology. Results indicated that the extract could offer protection against APAP-induced liver damage, suggesting its hepatoprotective activity.

Hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of Hygrophila auriculata (K. Schum) Heine Acanthaceae root extract.

Shanmugasundaram P, Venkataraman S.
Department of Pharmacology and Environmental Toxicology, Dr. ALM Post Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras, Chennai, India.

Hygrophila auriculata (K. Schum) Heine (syn. Asteracantha longifolia Nees, Acanthaceae) was widely used in the Indian systems of medicine for the treatment of various liver ailments. The hepatoprotective activity of the aqueous extract of the roots was studied on CCl(4)-induced liver toxicity in rats. The activity was assessed by monitoring the various liver function tests, viz. alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein and total bilirubin. Furthermore, hepatic tissues were subjected to histopathological studies. The root extract was also studied for its in vitro antioxidant activity using ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) methods. The extract exhibited significant hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities.

Anti-tumor promoting activity of Asteracantha longifolia against experimental hepatocarcinogenesis in rats.

Ahmed S, Rahman A, Mathur M, Athar M, Sultana S.
Department of Medical Elementology & Toxicology, Faculty of Science, Jamia Hamdard (Hamdard University), 110 062, New Delhi, India.

Vegetables, natural products of plant origin and numerous non-nutritive dietary constituents have been shown to play a salutary role in cancer chemoprevention. The present study aims to evaluate the chemopreventive efficacy of the methanol fraction of Asteracantha longifolia seed extract against development of 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF)-selected gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GT)-positive foci following diethylnitrosamine (DEN) initiation. Treatment of rats with doses 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight of methanol extract of A.

Longifolia seeds on alternate days, subsequent to carcinogen treatment, for 6 weeks significantly reduced the incidence and size distribution of gamma-GT-positive foci and tumor formation. Administration of A. longifolia seeds significantly (P<0.001) ameliorated the activities of antioxidant enzymes, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT), in a dose-dependent manner.

Prophylactic administration of seed extract simultaneous to 2-AAF in the diet, at same doses, significantly suppressed 2-AAF and partial hepatectomy (PH)-induced ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and [(3)H]thymidine incorporation into hepatic DNA, in a dose-dependent manner. Assimilation of the quantitative foci data together with the findings of the modulation of tumor promoting markers give ample evidence to the anti-tumor promoting potential of A. longifolia seeds against chemically-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in Wistar rats.

Protective effect of Asteracantha longifolia extract in mouse liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride and paracetamol.

Hewawasam RP, Jayatilaka KA, Pathirana C, Mudduwa LK.
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka.

This study was conducted to investigate the protective effect of Asteracantha longifolia Linn (Acanthaceae) plant extract on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)- and paracetamol-induced acute hepatotoxicity in mice. Hepatotoxicity was induced by the administration of a single intraperitoneal dose of CCl4 (0.5 mL kg(-1) CCl4 in olive oil) in one model and in the other by administration of paracetamol (300 mg kg(-1) in saline) orally, after a 16-h fast.

An aqueous extract of the whole plant (0.9 g kg(-1)) was used on a pre- and post-treatment basis. Asteracantha reduced the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level by 69.32% (P < 0.001) and increased the liver reduced glutathione level by 64.65% (P < 0.001) in the pre-treated group, 4 days after the administration of CCl4. A similar pattern was observed in the pre-treated group 4 h after the administration of paracetamol with a reduction in serum levels of ALT, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase enzymes by 65.04, 55.79 and 45.75% respectively (P < 0.001).

Plant extract also increased the glutathione concentration of the liver significantly (P < 0.001). Histopathological studies also provided supportive evidence for results from the biochemical analysis with marked improvement in liver architecture being observed in the Asteracantha-treated groups. Pre-treatment showed better results than post-treatment in both hepatotoxic models. Overall results indicate that the aqueous extract of Asteracantha longifolia possesses hepatoprotective effects on CCl4- and paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity in mice.