Evaluation of In Vitro and in Vivo Hepatoprotective Activity of Pongamia Pinnata Linn., Seed Extract against Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Hepatotoxicity in Wistar Rats

INTRODUCTION:The liver is a major detoxifying organ in the body. It is also one of the largest organs in the human body and is a intense site for metabolism. It has a major role in the maintenance, performance and regulation of homeostasis of the body. It is involved with almost all the biochemical pathways responsible for growth, nutrient supply, energy provision and reproduction. The major functions of the liver are carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, detoxification, secretion of bile and storage of vitamins.Liver diseases are posing as a major health problem around the world. Toxic industrial chemicals, alcohol, viral infection, water pollutants and aflatoxins are major risk factors of liver disease.AIM AND OBJECTIVE:From the literature review it has been found that Pongamia pinnata L., has been reported to possess antioxidant activity and antioxidants are known to be associated with hepatoprotective activity. Plants containing flavonoids are known to exihibit the hepatoprotective activity. In this plant, the leaves and stem bark of Pongamia pinnata L., have been shown to possess hepatoprotective activity. No work has so far been carried out on the seeds of Pongamia pinnata L., Hence, the aim and objective of the present study is To evaluate the in vitro hepatoprotective activity of the seeds of Pongamia pinnata L., by MTT assay using normal Chang liver cell line. To evaluate the in vivo hepatoprotective activity of the seeds of Pongamia pinnata L., by using Carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity model in Wistar rats.DISCUSSION:Liver is an important organ involved in metabolism of many xenobiotics. It removes toxins from the body. It is also exposed to several drugs and xenobiotics which cause hepatic damage. In the present study hepatoprotective activity on the seeds of Pongamia pinnata L., was evaluated. In vitro studies are carried out to evaluate the safety of the drug under study before taking them up for in vivo evaluation. The in vitro toxicity study was conducted on the ethanolic extract of Pongamia pinnata L., seeds using normal Chang liver cell line. The Chang liver cell line is differentiated non-malignant liver epithelial cell of human origin. The studies indicate that the EEPPS is as safe as Silymarin both having the same CTC50 of approximately 100μg/ml which is a standard drug. After establishing the safety of EEPPS, in vitro hepatoprotective evaluation was done. In vitro studies with cultured cell lines or primary hepatocytes have proved to be promising methods to evaluate hepatoprotective activity. For this study, CCl4 mediated hepatotoxicity on Chang liver cell line was used. CCl4 is the most commonly used hepatotoxin in the study of free radical induced liver disease. For in vitro evaluation, the hepatoprotective activity of an agent can be established by MTT assay and also by observing the morphological changes in the cell.CONCLUSION:From the study it is concluded that The ethanolic extract of the seeds of Pongamia pinnata L., showed in vitro hepatoprotective activity against CCl4 induced toxicity in Chang liver cell line. The ethanolic extract of Pongamia pinnata L., seeds possesses promising hepatoprotective activity against CCl4 induced hepatic damage. The activity is more pronounced at a dose of 400mg/kg. The activity could be due to improvement in the antioxidant enzyme levels and a decrease in free radical levels. The presences of phytochemicals such as flavonoids have been shown to be responsible for hepatoprotective activity. Further studies can be carried out in the future to elucidate the mechanism of action of the ethanolic extract of seeds of Pongamia pinnata L., which may then be followed by and then clinical studies to establish its efficacy in humans