Medicinal Plants Used in Liver Protection - A Review

Abstract

Liver is the very important part of our body responsible for the maximum metabolic and secretory activities and therefore appears to be a sensitive target site for substances modulating biotransformation. Liver is also associated in detoxification from the exogenous and endogenous challenges like xenobiotics, drugs, viral infections and chronic alcoholism. The period and intensity of the pharmacological response to drugs is influenced by their metabolic rate and hence substances capable to modify drug metabolism would be able to change the result of drug therapy. During all such exposures to the above mentioned challenges, if the usual defensive mechanisms of the liver are overpowered, the effect is liver damage. Liver injury or liver dysfunction is a major health problem that challenges not only medical professionals but also the pharmaceutical company and drug regulatory authorities. Liver cell injury caused by various toxic chemicals like certain antibiotics, chemotherapeutic agents, carbon tetrachloride, thioacetamide, excessive alcohol consumption and microbes. Herbal medicines have been applied for the treatment of liver disorder for a lengthy period. Many herbal preparations are available in the market and therefore present review is aimed to compile the data on promising phytochemicals from medicinal plants that have been tested in hepatotoxicity models using modern scientific system.

Hepato-Nephroprotective Activity of Nigella Sativa Oil on Paracetamol-Induced New Zealand Rabbits (Oryctolagus Cuniculus)

“…Different medicinal herbs and plants extracts have potent hepatoprotective activity in various animal models [8,1]. Nigella sativa, a dicotyledon of the Ranunculaceae family, contains major phenolic compounds such as thymoquinone, dithymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, and thymol [9].…”

Hypotensive and Vasorelaxant Effects of Aqueous Extract of Dichrostachys cinerea (L) Wight and Arv (Mimosaceae)

“…The phytochemical screening realized on Dichrostachys cinerea leaves has showed the presence of polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] . These results are in line of others studies which already shown the presence of polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins in extract of leaves of Dichrostachys cinerea 27 .…”

<p>In vivo Hepatoprotective and in vitro Radical Scavenging Activities of Extracts of <em>Rumex abyssinicus</em> Jacq. Rhizome</p>

“…14 In the present situation, there is an enhanced tendency to discover antioxidants from natural sources as most of the currently available drugs for the treatment of hepatic illnesses are inadequate and have been associated with severe adverse reactions. [14][15][16][17][18][19] Despite that there have been lots of plant-based medicines used to treat liver ailments, 19 such medicines were not scientifically characterized even in pre-clinical studies using animal models. Rumex abyssinicus Jacq.…”