Indian herbal medicines in the treatment of liver diseases: problems and promises

Abstract

Plant drugs are known to play a major role in the management of liver diseases. There are many plants and their extracts that have been shown to possess hepatoprotective activities. There are more than 300 preparations in Indian system of medicine for the treatment of jaundice and chronic liver diseases. About 600 commercial herbal formulations with claimed hepatoprotective activity are being sold all over the globe. The active phytochemical fraction that imparts hepatoprotective activity has been identified in many plants. These phytochemicals can be isolated and developed as single-ingredient drugs, with quality and standards of modern medicine. The major problem faced with herbal products is their standardization and their quality assurance. There can be batch-to-batch variations in their efficacies as a result of natural and genetic alterations, seasonal changes, differences in soil and climatic conditions, and nutritional status of the medicinal plant. Pharmacological validation of each hepatoprotective plant should include efficacy evaluation against liver diseases induced by various agents. The most effective drugs for each kind of liver disease have to be selected by separate efficacy evaluations. To treat liver disease of known, unknown, or multiple causes, a combination of different herbs with active fractions (or purified compounds) has to be developed. They may prove to be useful in the treatment of infective, toxic, and degenerative diseases of the liver.

Hepatoprotective properties of extensively studied medicinal plant active constituents: Possible common mechanisms

“…However, most of these compounds were not sufficiently evaluated in humans. A wide variety of plant constituents, including silymarin, resveratrol, curcumin, quercetin, and glycyrrhizin, have been reported to have multiple biological activities, mainly due to their antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties (Alvari et al, 2012;Dhiman et al, 2012;Ding et al, 2012;Girish & Pradhan, 2012;Muriel & Rivera-Espinoza, 2008;Zhang et al, 2013a). The present article focuses on only few well-studied naturally occurring hepatoprotective (cytoprotective) compounds.…”

“…In addition to our personal experience, we have performed a literature search using mainly Web of Science (WOS), PubMed, and Google search. An extensive number of articles which address many plant constituents with reported experimental (in vitro or in vivo) effects are summarized in various reviews (Alvari et al, 2012;Dhiman et al, 2012;Ding et al, 2012;Girish & Pradhan, 2012;Muriel & Rivera-Espinoza, 2008;Zhang et al, 2013a). In this article, we only consider literature related to the most widely studied active plant constituents of chemically defined molecules with potential hepatoprotective activity and the models most commonly used for their validation.…”

“…Natural products from plants used traditionally as hepatoprotective have been reviewed by several authors (Adewusi & Afolayan, 2010;Alvari et al, 2012;Dhiman et al, 2012;Ding et al, 2012;Girish & Pradhan, 2012;Muriel & RiveraEspinoza, 2008;Valan et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2013a), who described the phytoconstituents with hepatoprotective properties and classified them under phenyl compounds, coumarins, essential oils, monoterpenoids, diterpenoids, triterpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, and others.…”

Ayurvedic Intervention for Hepatobiliary Disorders: Current Scenario and Future Prospect

“…These herbs generally have strong antioxidative potential and cause induction of antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione and catalase. The mechanisms of hepato-protection include stimulation of heme oxygenase-1 activity, inhibition of nitric oxide production, hepatocyte apoptosis and nuclear factor-κB activation [20]. Saman grita like Panchagabya grita, Rohitaka grita, Panchakola grita, Amalaki grita are described in Ayurveda for treatment of liver diseases.…”

Hepatoprotective activity of Eclipta alba against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats

“…There are several herbal formulations used for their hepatoprotective activity in the traditional system of medicine in India and China. 1 However, only a small proportion of these herbal preparations have been evaluated scientifically in animal and clinical studies. Eclipta alba grows commonly in moist places as a weed all over the world.…”