Quantitative Phytochemical Estimation and Evaluation of Hepatoprotective Activity of Methanolic Extract of Dendrobium ovatum (L.) Kraenzl. Whole Plant against CCl4 Induced Hepatotoxicity

Abstract

A large number of populations suffer due to various reasons from hepatic diseases of unknown origin. The development of antihepatotoxic drugs being a major thrust area has drawn the attention of workers in the field of natural product research because synthetic drugs may cause serious side effects. The present research was aimed to study the in vivo hepatoprotective activity of methanolic extract of Dendrobium ovatum (L.) Kraenzl. Whole plant, which was used traditionally in Chittoor and Khammam districts of Andhra Pradesh, by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatotoxicity animal model and standard drug silymarin. The level of serum aspartate aminotransferase (SGOT), alanine aminotransferase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin (T. BILI.) were determined to assay hepatotoxicity. CCl4 administration caused severe hepatic damage in rats as evidenced by elevated serum SGOT, SGPT, ALP and T. BILI. Levels. The D. ovatum and silymarin administration prevented the toxic effect of CCl4 on the above serum parameters in both preventive and curative models. The present study concludes that, methanolic extract of D. ovatum has significant hepatoprotective activity against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity, which support folkloric utilizationand further confirmed by the histological investigation. The observed activity may be associated with its high bioactive compounds including flavonoids, alkaloids, triterpenoids, glycosides, steroids and carbohydrates.