Abstract

HEPATO-PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF SEED, LEAF AND FRUIT OF JACKFRUIT (ARTOCARPUS HETEROPHYLLUS LAM.) AGAINST CCL4 INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY ON SWISS ALBINO MICE

Homen Phukan*, Laishram I. Singha and Pradip Kr. Mitra

Abstract

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) is one of the important and commonly found tree in home gardens of India. It consists of therapeutically important secondary metabolites and is widely used in traditional medicine. The aqueous extract of seed, leaf and fruit of this plant were evaluated for its effects on CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in Swiss albino mice. Animals of either sex were treated with CCl4 for one day followed by oral administration of a constant dose of aqueous extract of Jackfruit seed, leaf and fruit for 30 days. The hepataprotective activity of the extracts was determined by assessing the biochemical parameters in serum. Serum ALP, AST, ALT, Bilirubin and total protein levels were significantly changed (either increase or decrease) in CCl4 treated animals. Post administration of aqueous extract of Jackfruit seed, leaf and fruit these levels recovered close to normal levels excepting total bilirubin level. The present study reveals that the aqueous extract of Jackfruit seed, leaf and fruit have beneficial effects on liver function. It is assumed that this hepataprotective effect may be due to the presence of secondary metabolites that respond to stimuli in natural environment and the influence of abundant calcium, potassium, magnesium content.

Keywords: Artocarpus heterophyllus, Jackfruit, Hepatotoxicity, Hepataprotective, Carbon tetrachloride, biochemical parameter.