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Context: In Egypt, the burden of liver diseases is exceptionally high.Objective: To investigate the components of the n-hexane extract of Acrocarpus fraxinifolius Arn. (Leguminosae) and its hepatoprotective activity against paracetamol (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.Material and methods: TRACE GC ultra gas chromatogaphic spectrometry was used for extract analysis. Thirty albino rats were divided into six groups (five rats in each). Group 1 was the healthy control; Groups 2 and 3 were healthy treated groups (250 and 500 mg/kg b.w. of the extract, respectively) for seven days. Group 4 was hepatotoxicity control (APAP intoxicated group). Groups 5 and 6 received APAP + extract 250 and APAP + extract 500, respectively.Results: Chromatographic analysis revealed the presence of 36 components. Major compounds were α-tocopherol (18.23%), labda-8 (20)-13-dien-15-oic acid (13.15%), lupeol (11.93%), phytol (10.95%) and squalene (7.19%). In the acute oral toxicity study, the mortality rates and behavioural signs of toxicity were zero in all groups (doses from 0 to 5 g/kg b.w. of A. fraxinifolius). LD50 was found to be greater than 5 g/kg of the extract. Only the high dose (500 mg/kg b.w.) of extract significantly alleviated the liver relative weight (4.01 ± 0.06) and biomarkers, as serum aspartate aminotransferase (62.87 ± 1.41), alanine aminotransferase (46.74 ± 1.45), alkaline phosphatase (65.96 ± 0.74), lipid profiles (180.39 ± 3.51), bilirubin profiles (2.30 ± 0.06) and hepatic lipid peroxidation (114.20 ± 2.06), and increased body weight (11.58 ± 0.20), serum protein profile (11.09 ± 0.46) and hepatic total antioxidant capacity (23.78 ± 0.66) in APAP-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.Conclusion: Our study proves the antihepatotoxic/antioxidant efficacies of A. fraxinifolius hexane extract.

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The molluscicidal activity of leaf and rhizome extracts of Iris germanica L. (var. alba) against Biomphalaria alexandrina snails was evaluated and the rhizome extracts were found to be the most potent. Activity-guided fractionation revealed that the chloroform extract showed the highest molluscicidal activity (LC90 = 1.26 mg/l) among the tested extracts of the rhizomes. Fraction B prepared from the chloroform extract was the most potent molluscicide (LC90 = 0.96 mg/l) in addition, it showed a significant heart rate reduction in the snail after a 6- to 24-h exposure period. It also displayed a significant level of cercaricidal potential in a time-concentration relationship pattern. Chromatographic fractionation and purification of fraction B resulted in the isolation of two novel compounds: 5,2′-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-6,7- methylenedioxyflavone and 5,7,2′-trihydroxy-6-methoxyflavanone. Their structures were established by one- and two-dimensional NMR methods and mass spectrometry