PRESENT SCENARIO OF HEPATOPROTECTIVE POTENTIAL OF MEDICINAL PLANTS: AN UPDATED REVIEW

The liver is the principal site for metabolism and excretion in the body. The human liver metabolizes substances by various biochemical pathways, including oxidation, reduction, hydration, condensation, hydrolysis, conjugation or isomerization. Disorder of any of therefore mentioned process may lead to liver cell injury, what we call as hepatotoxicity, which in turn leads to many diseases. Such diseases are responsible for higher mortality rates worldwide. Hepatotoxicity can be due to medicines, chemicals, dietary disturbances, or herb induced liver damage via hepatotoxins. A number of herbal and herbomineral preparations are available in the Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medicine, which has been investigated for their hepatoprotective potential to treat different types of liver disorders. The use of natural elements to eliminate the root cause of the disease by restoring balance at the same time creates a healthy lifestyle to prevent the recurrence of imbalance. Herbal medicines have existed worldwide with long recorded history, and they were used in ancient Chinese, Greek, Egyptian, and Indian medicine for various therapies purposes. World Health Organization estimated that 80% of the word’s inhabitants still rely mainly on traditional medicines for their health care. The subcontinent of India is well-known to be one of the major biodiversity centers with about 45,000 plant species. The present review is focused on different herbal plants that have the potential to cure the hepatotoxicity.