HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF ENICOSTEMMA AXILLARE (LAM) Raynal IN LANTANA CAMARA LINN INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY

M. Surendra Kumar, Lalitha M, Astalakshmi N and G BABU

Hepatotoxicity is a common condition of liver damage due to chemical entities or any other substances. The present study aims to explore the hepatoprotective activity of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of aerial parts of Enicostemma axillare (Lam.) Raynal against Lantana camara Linn induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats. Silymarin (100mg/kg) is used as a reference standard. The aqueous and alcoholic extracts of aerial parts of Enicostemma axillare at about the doses of 100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg are used for the study. Both aqueous and alcoholic extracts have shown very significant hepatoprotection against Lantana camara induced hepatotoxicity in male wistar rats by reducing Serum Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase (SGOT), Serum Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase (SGPT) levels and increasing the serum total albumin and protein levels. However the alcoholic extract is found to be more potent than aqueous extract at about the dose of 400 mg/kg. Thus we can claim that, the drug Enicostemma axillare is a hepatoprotective agent suitable for veterinary category, since Lantana camara is a common hepatotoxic agent among the veterinary categories.