Protective effect of Livactine against CCl(4) and paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity in adult Wistar rats

BACKGROUND: Liver disease has become one of the serious health problems as it is exposed to many kinds of xenobiotics and therapeutic agents. Moreover the rapidly growing morbidity and mortality from liver disease are attributable to the increasing number of chemical compounds and environmental pollution. Unfortunately, so far, in the modern era of medicine there is no specific treatment to counter the menacing impact of these dreaded diseases. Many polyherbal formulations are used widely to treat these disorders. Livactine is a polyherbal formulation and is claimed to be useful in jaundice and biliary dysfunctions. Most of these formulations do not have standard and approved reports stating their pharmacological action or therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, there is a need for experimental confirmation of the pharmacological effects of this formulation. The rationale behind the selection of carbon tetrachloride is due to its free radical mechanism based liver injury, and paracetamol is consumed widely by the human population and it is also a potential liver hazard. AIM: To evaluate the anti-hepatotoxic activity of Livactine against carbon tetrachloride & paracetamol induced toxicity in rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Albino rats of Wistar strain were used to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of Livactine against carbon tetrachloride & paracetamol induced toxicity. Liver damage was assessed by estimating various biochemical parameters such as serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, total bilirubin, and total protein. The results of the rats treated with Livactine were compared with that of Liv-52. RESULTS: Livactine showed significant dose dependent hepatoprotective effect by reducing elevated serum enzyme levels when compared to that of Liv-52. CONCLUSION: Our findings confirm that the formulation was found to be effective pharmacologically at higher dose against carbon tetrachloride and paracetamol induced hepatotoxic models and were comparable to that of Liv-52. The resultant hepatoprotective activity of Livactine could be due to its free radical scavenging property of the ingredients.