Hepatoprotective effects of hydroethanol extracts of Citrus aurantifolia fruits in CCl4- induced hepatotoxic rats.

Abstract

The current study assessed the hepatoprotective effects of hydroethanol (ethanol: water 50:50v/v) extract of Citrus aurantifolia fruit in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) intoxicated rats. Male Wistar albinos rats (150 -200 g) were separated into six groups (n =6) and treated for 12 days (orally); Group 1= Rats + distilled water (negative control), Group 2 = Rats + CCl4 (positive control), Group 3 = Rats + 25 mg/kg p.o of silymarin, while Groups 4, 5 and 6 rats received 150, 300 and 600 mg/kg bw of C. aurantifolia extract respectively. The results indicated that exposure of animals to CCl4 caused significant (p <0.05) increase in the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), malondialdehyde (MDA), triglycerides (TAG), cholesterol (CHOL) and LDL and decreased levels of HDL, protein, albumin and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the liver of rats relative to the positive control group. However, pre-treatment and continuous treatment of CCl4 induced hepatotoxic rats with extracts of C. aurantifolia fruits caused significant (p <0.05) dose dependent reduction in AST, ALT, ALP, MDA, TAG, CHOL and LDL levels and increase in the levels of HDL, protein and albumin and activities of SOD and CAT in the liver tissues, when compared with the positive control rats, with 600 mg/kg dose of extract exhibiting good hepatoprotective effect comparable to that of silymarin. Thus, the
extract of C. aurantifolia fruits possess liver protecting effects, which may be partly, connected to its antioxidant properties.