Biochemical Studies on the Hepatoprotective effect of Eclipta Alba and Piper Longum

Abstract

The liver is the second largest and one of the most essential organs which is located within the lower part of the rib-cage on the right hand side of the body. It has a huge variety of functions in the body and is the only organ that can repair and re-grow itself after damage. It is a seat of metabolism which is responsible for performing many functions in the body. Bile juice produced by liver gets secreted in the intestines which is required for the fat digestion body. It also works as an energy store of the body thus providing energy when required in emergency conditions. Hepatoprotective efficacy of BHE on CCl4 intoxicated rats was performed to propose a new insight to the pharmacological action of BHE, which is a combined biherbal ethanolic extract made up of equal quantities of leaves of Eclipta alba and the seeds of Piper longum. Since polyherbal formulations are generally considered to be more effective due to the synergistic activity than a single herbal drug,the study has been undertaken to evaluate the protective effect of biherbal extract in comparison with its individual plants Eclipta alba and Piper longum. In conclusion, the BHE afforded protection from CCl4 induced liver damage, significantly when compared to that of the individual preparations. The beneficial effects of BHE were found comparable to those of silymarin. By trapping oxygen related free radicals, the extract could hinder their interaction with polyunsaturated fatty acids and abolish the enhancement of lipid peroxidative processes. The effect may be due to the presence of flavonoids and phenolic compounds which are strong antioxidants. Antioxidant principles from herbal resources are multifaceted in their effects and provide enormous scope in correcting the imbalance through their consumption. Thus from the foregoing findings, it was observed that BHE exhibited protective effect against CCl4 induced liver damage, which may be due to its antilipid peroxidative and free radical scavenging activities. newline