ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE: The Hepatoprotective Activity of the Methanol Leaf Extract of Lasimorpha Senegalensis against Liver Injury Induced by Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) in Albino Wistar Rats

The leaf extract of Lasimorpha senegalensis is used in Nigerian traditional medicine for the treatment of liver disease. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the hepatoprotective ability of Lasimorpha senegalensis methanol leaf extracts on paracetamol-induced toxicity in order to validate or invalidate its traditional use in the treatment of liver disease. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectometry analysis of the extract revealed the presence of Cycloheptasiloxane tetradecamethyl- and 3, 4-Dihydroxyphenylglycol, a strong antioxidant capable of protecting the cell membrane from assaults. Thirty Wistar rats of mixed sexes were randomly assigned to six groups of five rats each. Group 1, which was the normal control received only normal saline. Groups 2-4 were pre-treated with the extract at various doses, twice daily for 4 days. Silymarin, a known hepatoprotective drug was administered in the same manner to group 5 at 100 mg/kg body weight for 4 days. One hour after the last pre-treatment on the fourth day, groups 2-6 received 2500 mg/kg of paracetamol (PCM) orally in order to induce hepatotoxicity. Eighteen hours after PCM intoxication, blood samples were collected for haematology and biochemical analyses. All the animals were sacrificed and the liver cells were harvested for histopathological examinations. The liver function markers (ALT, AST, ALP), total and direct bilirubin were estimated. This present study has shown that the extract under investigation exhibits hepatoprotective activities since they reduce cell membrane disturbances induced by PCM in the isolated liver cells of the rats. These activities were comparable with that of silymarin, a reference hepatoprotective drug