亚洲传统医药

Abstract: The hepatoprotective activity of the crude ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Scoparia dulcis was evaluated against CCl₄-induced liver cirrhosis in Sprague Dawley rats. The extracts, at an oral dose of 500 mg/kg, exhibited a significant (P<0.01) protective effect against CCl₄ induced- changes in serum aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT), alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein (TP) and on liver histopathology, compared with the positive control. Furthermore, both the extracts showed in vitro free radical scavenging activity against nitric oxide (NO) and 1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals and enhanced the reducing power of potassium ferricyanide in the reducing power assay. The above results are comparable with the standard, silymarin. In conclusion, the results of the above study indicate that both aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Scoparia dulcis L. possess significant hepatoprotective activity which may be attributed to its free radical scavenging potential.

Key words: Scoparia dulcis L., antioxidant, antihepatotoxic, silymarin, carbon tetrachloride, phenobarbitone