Liver protective effect of chloroform extract of Bauhinia purpurea leaves is attributed partly to its antioxidant action and the presence of flavonoids

Abstract

Context

Bauhinia purpurea L. (Fabaceae) is used in the Ayurvedic system to treat various oxidative-related ailments (e.g., wounds, ulcers etc.). Therefore, it is believed that the plant also has the potential to alleviate oxidative-related liver damage.

Objective

This study elucidates the hepatoprotective activity of chloroform extract of B. purpurea leaves (CEBP) in paracetamol (PCM)-induced liver injury (PILI) rats.

Materials and methods

Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 6) were pre-treated once daily (p.o.) with CEBP (50–500 mg/kg) for seven consecutive days before being administered (p.o.) a hepatotoxic agent, 3 g/kg PCM. Liver enzyme levels were determined from the collected blood, while the collected liver was used to determine the activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes and for histopathological examination. CEBP was also subjected to radical scavenging assays and phytochemical analysis.

Results

CEBP significantly (p < 0.05) reversed the toxic effect of PCM by increasing the serum levels of AST and ALT, and the activity of endogenous catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) while reducing the liver weight/body weight (LW/BW) ratio. Other than low TPC value and radical scavenging activity, CEBP had a high antioxidant capacity when evaluated using the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. UHPLC-ESI-MS analysis of CEBP showed the presence of flavonoids.

Discussion and conclusions

CEBP exerts its hepatoprotective activity through a non-free radical scavenging pathway that involves activation of the endogenous enzymatic antioxidant defense system. Further study is needed to identify the responsible bioactive compounds before the plant can be developed as a future alternative hepatoprotective medicament for clinical use.

Keywords:

• Liver injury
• paracetamol intoxication
• hepatoprotection
• non-free radical scavenging
• endogenous antioxidant enzymes system

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the FMHS, UPM, Malaysia for providing the necessary facilities to perform this research.

Authors contribution

Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria conceived and designed the study. Adibah Sahmat, Azfar Hizami Azmi and Amal Syahirah Nur Zainol performed the in vitro and in vivo experiments, undertook data extraction and analysis, and conducted literature review. Maizatul Hasyima Omar and Tavamani Balan performed the UHPLC-ESI-MS analysis. Arifah Abdul Kadir helped in histopathological examination. Syahriel Abdullah helped in phytochemical analysis and antioxidant study. Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria, Roro Azizah and Lilis Sulistyorini drafted and finalized the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by UPM [grant number: UPM/800-3/3/1/GPB/2020/9685000].