HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF LAGENARIA SICERARIA (MOLINA) STANDLEY FRUITS AGAINST PARACETAMOL INDUCED HAPATOTOXICITY IN MICE

Aim and Objectives: Fruit juice of Lagenaria siceraria (LS) belonging to Cucurbitaceae family, has been used traditionally to treat jaundice and to cure certain liver disorders. Antioxidants are well known for their hepatoprotective effect and in curing liver disorders. In this study, hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of fruits were investigated.

Materials and Methods: The coarsely powdered plant material was extracted successively with petroleum ether (PE) and ethanol (ETH) using soxhlet.  PE & ETH, were then evaluated for their hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities against paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity and different in vitro assays respectively. Hepatoprotective activity was evaluated at three oral dose levels of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg.

Results: Both extracts, PE and ETH exhibited a significant hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity. The ETH (1000 mg/kg) showed maximum hepato-protection. ETH also showed better antioxidant activity, in comparison to PE, in all the antioxidant assays.

Conclusions: ETH has shown better hepatoprotective activity than PE, which could be due to its better antioxidant activity. Moreover, better activity can also be attributed to the presence of phenolic compounds as these were absent in the PE.