Hepatoprotective effect of Piper guineense aqueous extract against ethanol-induced toxicity in male rats

Objective: Herbal medicinal products play an important role in the management of liver diseases for the lack of satisfactory liver protective drugs in allopathic medical practices. Searching for hepatoprotective drugs with high efficacy and safety is of great need. Our aim is to evaluate the hepatoprotective and antioxidant effect of aqueous extract of Piper guineense (P.G.) on ethanol induced toxicity in Wistar rats. Methods: In order to assess the hepatoprotective effect of this extract in experimental animals, twenty-four Wistar male albino rats (weighing 150-170 g) were divided into four groups. Toxicity was induced by administering 45% ethanol (4.8 g/kg b.w) by oral gavage for 21 days. Serum triglyceride (TG) levels, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities were monitored. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, reduced glutathione (GSH) levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and gluthathione-S-transferase (GST) activities were determined in the liver. Results: At the end of the experiment, chronic administration of ethanol resulted in enhanced lipid peroxidation (LPO) with depletion in the levels of GSH as well as reduction in the activities of SOD and GST. TG levels, ALT and AST activities were elevated. This was attenuated by the co-administration of the P.guineense extract by oral gavage (100 or 200 mg/kg b.w). Administration of the plant extract during ethanol exposure inhibited hepatic LPO and ameliorated SOD and GST activities as well as restoring GSH levels significantly. Conclusion: From this study it can be concluded that aqueous extract of P.guineense possess some potent antioxidants which can ameliorate hepatic damage associated with chronic ethanol exposure in rat models.