A Comparative study of the beneficial effects of Osbeckia octandra and Osbeckia aspera in liver dysfunction in rats

Abstract

A study was conducted to compare the protective effects of aqueous extracts of Osbeckia octandra and Osbeckia aspera against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-mediated liver damage in Sprague Dawley rats by assessing their ability to protect livers against the toxin-mediated alterations in the liver histopathology and the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase. Within 24 h of administering a sub-lethal dose (0.2 ml/l00 g, i.p.) of CCI4 to rats, the ALT, AST and alkaline phosphatase activities were found to be 380.8 percent, 101.4 percent and 222.2 percent higher respectively, than the corresponding base values in control animals untreated with the toxin. By pre-treatment of rats for 7 days with an aqueous extract of either the O.octandra or O.aspera, the CCI4-mediated changes in the serum enzyme activities could be considerably reduced. Thus, in rats pre-treated with an extract of O.octandra or O.aspera, the CCI4 was able to cause only a 33.7 percent or 27.6 percent increase in ALT activity, a 9.2 percent or 4.2 percent increase in AST activity and a 16.6 percent or 17.6 percent increase in alkaline phosphatase activity respectively, above the corresponding values in control animals. In post-treatment experiments also when serum enzyme levels in rats treated only with CCI4 and left to recover for 4 days were compared with those in rats treated orally for 3 days with either plant extract starting 24 h after the toxin administration, it was found that both plant extracts were able to protect the livers against the toxin mediated changes, to a similar extent. Thus, on the 4th day after CCI4 treatment, the serum ALT, AST and alkaline phosphatase activities were still 162 percent,76.5 percent and 90.1 percent respectively, higher than the corresponding values in control animals. In the O.octandra and O.aspera post-treated groups, the corresponding increases in the activities of ALT, AST and alkaline phosphatase respectively, were only 53.8 percent and 35.5 percent for ALT, 39.2 percent and 41.6 percent for AST and 29 percent and 18.6 percent for alkaline phosphatase. In both the pre-treatment and the post-treatment experiments it was also observed that, the CCl4 -mediated alterations in liver histopathology could be prevented to a similar extent by both plant extracts. The overall results indicate that aqueous extracts of the leaves of both O.octandra and O.aspera possess very similar hepatoprotective abilities, thus rationalizing the use of both these plants in traditional medicine for the treatment of liver disease.