About Authors:
Aman sharma*, Dr. Sunil sharma
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Guru Jambeshwar University of Science and Technology,
Hisar-125001, Haryana(INDIA)
*amansharma67@rediffmail.com
ABSTRACT
The aqueous extract of the Adansonia digitata (Linn.) leaf was tested for hepatoprotective activity against chemical toxicity with CCl4 in rats. The aqueous extract exhibited significant hepatoprotective activity and consumption of Adansonia digitata leaf may play an important part in human resistance to liver damage in areas in which the plant is consumed . The mechanism of liver protection is unknown, but could possibly result from triterpenoids, b-sitosterol, b-amyrin palmitate, or/and a-amyrin, and ursolic acid in the leaf.Adansonia digitata leaves are superior in nutritional quality to fruit pulp, and contain significant levels of vitamin A. The leaves are a staple for many populations in Africa, and are eaten fresh or dried. Several plant parts have interesting anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and baobab has been used extensively since ancient times in traditional medicine.
Reference Id: PHARMATUTOR-ART-1494
INTRODUCTION
Baobab or Adansonia digitata L. belongs to the Malvaceae family and is a deciduous tree native to arid Central Africa. Its distribution area is large and this species can be found in most of Sub-Sahara Africa’s semi-arid and sub-humid regions as well as in western Madagascar. It has been introduced to areas outside Africa and grown successfully. Baobab is a very long-lived tree with multipurpose uses. The different plant parts are widely used as foods, medicines and the bark fibres are also used. The tree provides food, shelter, clothing and medicine as well as material for hunting and fishing . Every part of the baobab tree is reported to be useful. The leaves of the baobab tree are a staple for many populations in Africa, especially the central region of the continent. During the rainy season when the baobab leaves are tender, people harvest the leaves fresh. During the last month of the rainy season, leaves are harvested in great abundance and are dried for domestic use and for marketing during the dry season. The leaves are typically sun-dried and either stored as whole leaved or pounded and sieved into a fine powder. Young leaves are widely used, cooked as spinach, and frequently dried, often powdered and used for sauces overporridges, thick gruels of grains, or boiled rice.The plant, which has traditionally been used as an immunostimulant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, pesticide, antipyretic, febrifuge, and astringent in the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery, has been evaluated as a substitute for imported western drugs. No systemic study, however, has reported the possible use of leaf extract as a hepatoprotective agent. This study investigated the effects of Adansonia digitata leaf extract against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity.
MATERIALS AND METHODS.
Experimental animals
Wistar albino rats of either sex, 4-5 weeks old and weighing around 30-40 g were purchased from Disease Free Small Animal House, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar (Haryana). Male and female animals were housed separately in groups of 5 per cage (Polycarbonate cage size: 45×30×17 cm) under laboratory conditions with alternating light and dark cycle of 12 h each. The animals had free access to food and water. The animals were kept fasted 2 h before and 2 h after drug administration. Groups of five animals each were used in all sets of the experiments.The animals were acclimatized for at least five days before the commence of experiments. The experimental protocol was approved by Institutional Animals Ethics Committee (IAEC) and animal care was taken as per the guidelines of Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), Govt. of India (Registration No. 0436).
Collection of plant material
Adansonia digitata leaves were provided by GREENFORCE RENEWABLE SOLUTIONS, Corp. office:A-14, Ist floor, Wazirpur industrial area, ring road, Delhi 110052, India as a gift sample for research work.
Preparation of aqueous leaf extract
Aqueous extract was prepared by cold maceration. Around 100 g of the coarse leaf powder were placed in a conical flask and soaked for three days in 500 ml of chloroform water at room temperature . Then, it was filtered through muslin cloth and the filtrate was again filtered using Whatman filter paper no.1. The final filtrate was evaporated to dryness at a low temperature (40-60°C) using water bath. The dried extract was reddish-brown in color and the yield was 9.2%w/w.
EXPERIMENTAL
Antihepatotoxic activity of the isolated plant filtrate (extract) against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in rats was done according to the procedure of Rao and Mishra (Table 1). The results, ex- pressed as percent hepatoprotective activity (H), were calculated by the following formula:
H = [1- (A - S)]
------------ * 100
(C - S)
where A, C, and S were the changes in livers measured in the test animals treated with the Adansonia digitata extract plus CCl4, CCl4, and saline, respectively. To assess liver functions, test animals, subjected to one of the various treatments, were anesthetized 24 h after the last treatment. Blood samples were then drawn directly from the inner canthus of the anesthetized rats. Serum enzyme [alanine transferase (ALT), aspartate transferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)] activities and total protein (TP), albumin (Alb), and globulin (Glob) content of the blood were estimated according to methods enclosed with the kits obtained from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA).
Statistical analysis. Results were statistically analyzed using the Student’s t-test for unpaired data, comparing different treatment groups to that of the saline control. Treatment groups containing extract and CCl4 were compared with the treatment group containing saline and CCl4.
NOW YOU CAN ALSO PUBLISH YOUR ARTICLE ONLINE.
SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLE/PROJECT AT articles@pharmatutor.org
Subscribe to Pharmatutor Alerts by Email
FIND OUT MORE ARTICLES AT OUR DATABASE
TABLE 1. Experimental protocol for testing liver protective effect of aqueous extract of Adansonia digitata.
|
S.No. |
Treatment |
Dose, route and length of treatment |
|
1. |
Saline (control) |
1 ml saline orally daily for 5 consecutive days. |
|
2. |
Extract |
1 mg/kg body wt. orally daily for 15 consecutive days |
|
3.
|
CCl4 + saline
|
0.5 ml CCl4/kg body wt. i.v. + 1 ml saline orally daily for 5 consecutive days |
|
4.
|
CCl4 + extract
|
0.5 ml CCl4/kg body wt. i.v. daily for 5 consecutive days + 1 mg extract/kg body wt. orally for 15 consecutive days, beginning 3 days after last CCl4 treatment. |
|
5. |
Extract + CCl4 |
1 mg extract/kg body wt. orally for 1 day and then extract + CCl4 0.5ml/kg body wt. i.v. daily for 5 consecutive days followed by extract for 15 days after last CCl4 treatment. |
RESULTS.
TABLE 2. Effects of aqueous fruit pulp extract of the Adansonia digitata on CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity.
|
Treatment |
ALT |
AST |
ALP |
TP |
Alb |
Glob |
A/G |
|
Saline (control) |
50.12 ± 1.03 |
100.1 ± 3.2 |
135.3 ± 1.1 |
5.75 ± 0.15 |
1.78 ± 0.01 |
4.09 ± 0.18 |
0.46 ± 0.02 |
|
Extract |
45.78 ± 1.19 |
110.4 ± 2.6 |
134.5 ± 1.5 |
6.50 ± 0.10 |
1.88 ± 0.01 |
4.58 ± 0.10 |
0.45 ± 0.01 |
|
CCl4 + saline
|
85.60 ± 1.01 |
297.4 ± 1.16 |
280.3 ± 1.6 |
4.15 ± 0.01 |
1.31 ± 0.03 |
2.80 ± 0.01 |
0.42 ± 0.01 |
|
CCl4 + extract
|
55.91 ± 0.84 |
149.3 ± 1.2 |
157.4 ± 0.9 |
5.61 ± 0.07 |
1.63 ± 0.02 |
4.06 ± 0.07 |
0.40 ± 0.01 |
|
Extract + CCl4 |
50.31 ± 1.98 |
125 ± 1.8 |
142.1 ± 1.8 |
5.91 ± 0.17 |
1.80 ± 0.03 |
4.12 ± 0.18 |
0.45 ± 0.02 |
1 Means ± SEM from five replicates, P < 0.01.
2 CCl4 treatment followed 3 days later with Adansonia digitata extract for 15 days.
3 Adansonia digitata extract for 24 h before CCl4 for 5 days and continued for 15 days after ending CCl4 treatments.
DISCUSION
The observed protection and restoration of CCl4-induced liver damage by the extract, suggests a complex series of mechanisms involved in the hepatoprotective property of Adansonia digitata leaf. In Africa, the consumption of Adansonia digitata is undoubtedly an important factor in normal human resistance against liver damage due to endemic causes (2). This protection could result from the content of triterpenoids (10), b-sitosterol (11,14), b-amyrin palmitate (11), or/and a-amyrin, and ursolic acid (14). Lin and Tome (8) have previously demonstrated that a mixture of b-sitosterol, b-amyrin palmitate, and a-myrin exhibit protective activities against liver damage induced by CCl4. Anti-inflammatory, analgesic (10), immunostimulant (3), and antimicrobial (5,7,9) activities of Adansonia digitata, collectively or singly, may also play a role in hepatoprotective activity of the fruit pulp.
REFERENCES
1. Beckier, B. 1983. The contribution of wild plants to human nutrition in the Ferlo (Northern Senegal). Agroforestry-Systems 1(3):257-267.
2. Didibe, M., J.F. Scheuring, D. Tembely, M.M. Sidibe, P. Hofman, and M. Frigg. 1996. Baobab-homegrown vitamin C for Africa. Agroforestry Today 8:13-15.
3. El-Rawy, M. Eman, S.M. Gergis, S. Bazaid, and S.A. ElMougy. 1997. The immunostimulant effect of Adansonia digitata on the immune response of chicken vaccinated with avian cholera vaccine. Journ. Egypt. Veterinary Med. Asso. 57:959 970.
4. Grand, A-le. 1985. Medicinal plants of the tree-savanna. Part 3. Evaluation of the use and therapeutic value of some fifty medicinal plants. Amsterdam University, Netherlands.
5. Grand, A-le. and A. Le-Grand. 1989. Anti-infectious phytotherapies of the tree-savanna, Senegal (West Africa) III: a summary of the phytochemical substances and the antimicrobial activity of 43 species. Journ. Ethnopharmacology 25:315-338.
6. Henry, J.B. 1984. Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 17th ed. W.B. Saunders, London.
7. Hussain, H.S.N. and Y.Y. Deeni. 1991. Plants in Kano ethnomedicine; screening for antimicrobial activity and alkaloids. Internat. Journ. Pharmacognosy 29:51-56.
8. Lin, C.N. and W.P. Tome. 1988. Antihepatotoxic principles of Sambucus formosana. Planta Medica 54:223-224.
9. Locher, C.P., M.T. Burch, H.F. Mower, J. Berestecky, H. Davis, B. Van-Poel, A. Lasure, D.A. Vanden-Berghe, and A.J. Vlietinck. 1995. Antimicrobial activity and anticomplement activity of extracts obtained from selected Hawaiian medicinal plants. Journ. Ethnopharmacology 1:23-32. Al-Qarawi, Al-Damegh, and El-Mougy 5
10. Ramadan, A., F.M. Harraz, and S.A. ElMougy. 1994. Anti-inflammatory, alalgesic and antipyretic effects of the fruit pulp of Adansonia digitata. Fitoterapia 65:418-422.
11. Ramesh, D., T.J. Dennis, and M.S. Shingare. 1992 Constituents of Adansonia digitata root bark. Fitoteraia 63:278-279.
12. Rao, K.S. and S.H. Mishra. 1998. Antihepatotoxic activity of Sida cordifolia whole plant. Fitoterapia 69:20-23.
13. Singh, B., A.K. Saxena, B.K. Chandan, K.K. Anand, O.P. Suri, K.A. Suri, and N.K. Satti. 1998. Hepatoprotective activity of berbenalin on experimental liver damage in rodents. Fitoterapia 69:135-140.
14. Sipra-Dan and S. Dan. 1986. Phytochemical study of Adansonia digitata, Coccoloba excoriata, Psycotria adenophylla and Schleichera oleosa. Fitoterapia 57:445-446.
15. Szolnoki, T.W. 1985. Food and Fruit Trees of the Gambia. Published in conjunction with the Bundesforschungsanstalt fur Forst-und Holzwirtschaft, Stiftung Walderhaltung in Afrika, Hamburg. 132 p.
16. Tuani, G.K., J.R. Cobbinah, and P.K. Agbodaze. 1994. Bioactivity of phytochemical studies on extractives from some Ghanaian plants. Ghana Journ. Forestry 1:44-48.
NOW YOU CAN ALSO PUBLISH YOUR ARTICLE ONLINE.
SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLE/PROJECT AT articles@pharmatutor.org
Subscribe to Pharmatutor Alerts by Email
FIND OUT MORE ARTICLES AT OUR DATABASE
.png)
