In Vitro Hepatoprotective Activity of Terminalia arjuna Stem Bark and Its Flavonoids Against CCl4 Induced Hepatotoxicity in Goat Liver Slice Culture

Terminalia arjuna (Roxb) stem bark has folkloric use in the treatment of hepatic disorders. In order to validate this folkloric claim experimentally, it is planned to evaluate hepatoprotective activity of methanolic extract of Terminalia arjuna stem bark (MeOH-TASB) and its extracted flavonoids baicalein (Bai) and quercetin (Que) by using a simple in vitro goat liver slice culture model. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was used to induce hepatotoxicity in liver slice of goat. The cytotoxicity induced by CCl₄ was estimated by quantifying the release of marker enzymes such as alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Also the degree of hepatic damage measured by analyzing the levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO) of hepatocytes membrane lipids. The treatment of liver cells with CCl₄ caused twice increase in LPO of cells besides release of ALT, AST, ALP and LDH was 4.26, 4.88, 2.89 and 3.66 times, respectively as compared to untreated liver cells. Thus, a toxic effect of CCl4 was significantly reduced by the treatment of MeOH-TASB, Bai and Que. Moreover, the protective effect was a dose dependent manner, not only for MeOH-TASB extract but also for its phyto-ingredients. These results indicate that all MeOH-TASB and its extracted flavonoids protect the liver cells from CCl₄ induced oxidative/free radical mediated damage in vitro. Que shows more protective effect than Bai. Evidently, it may be stated that flavonoids of Terminalia arjuna stem bark have hepatoprotective effect against CCl₄ induced hepatic damage.

Author(s): Gunjan M Chaudhari and Raghunath T Mahajan

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