HEPATOPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF VIRGOLIV SYRUP AGAINST CCL4 INDUCED HEPATIC INJURY IN RATS

Objective: To evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of Virgoliv syrup on CCl4 induced hepatic injury in rats.Methods: The hepatic injury was induced by intra peritoneal injection of 0.3 % CCl4 (10 ml/kg) diluted with olive oil (1:1). The biochemical parameters such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TB) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and antioxidant enzymes such as malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were estimated to assess the liver function. The histopathological changes of liver tissues were studied and compared with silymarin.Results: The levels of biochemical parameters such as ALT, AST, ALP and TB were significantly increased in CCl4 treated rats when compared with the normal rats but the Virgoliv syrup treated rats showed maximum reduction of ALT, AST, ALP and TB levels in significant manner. The CCl4 treated rats showed significantly increase in MDA and decrease in GSH, CAT and SOD levels of liver tissue when compared to control rats. Treatments of rats with Virgoliv syrup and silymarin showed significant improvment in antioxidant enzyme levels in liver tissue. The hepatoprotective effect of Virgoliv syrup was confirmed by histopathological examination of liver tissues.Conclusion: It can be concluded that Virgoliv syrup showed significant hepatoprotective activity against CCl4 induced hepatic damage and this might be due to scavenging of free radicals as evident by recovery of antioxidant enzymes such as CAT, GSH and SOD towards normalization and decreased lipid peroxidation.Â