Bioassays of lipids: A review

Abstract

Many liver diseases are major health problems in worldwide. Nearly every acute as well as chronic liver injury can be experimentally induced; necrosis, hepatic injuries, steatosis, cholestasis and cirrhosis. The magnitude of hepatoprotective effect can be measured through survival rate, biochemical makers or histology of the liver. Hyperlipidemia is a condition which is characterized by cholesterol in the form of LDL (low density lipoprotein), VLDL (very low density lipoprotein) and chylomicrons, etc. It is necessary to discover new moieties that help to prevent liver diseases. Examinations aiming to discover natural or synthetic chemical compounds belonging hepatoprotective activity have been undertaken. Development of new moieties of antihyperlipidemia drugs is very challenging job for researchers, the reason behind this is that most of the screening techniques are time consuming. The development of particular new drug consists of number of steps starting from discovery of pharmacological effects in animal model to demonstrate their safety as well as efficacy in human beings. Various models for evaluation hepatoprotective activity include in vivo and in vitro models which can be found in medical literature. Ex vivo models are also part of evaluation techniques. These models are somewhat better co-related to clinical models as compared to in vivo or in vitro models. The goal of this review is to describe the purpose, features, disadvantages, advantages of the each model, biochemical parameters and hepatotoxic compounds most commonly used. Biochemical parameters are useful to evaluate liver damage in different models.