Hepatoprotective Effects of Mangrove Plant Species of the Sundarbans and Their Bioactive Metabolites: A Comprehensive Review With Mechanistic Insights

The Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem represents a unique ecological niche enriched with diverse medicinal plant species exhibiting significant therapeutic potential. This review summarizes the hepatoprotective phytochemicals derived from mangrove plant species of the Sundarbans and highlights their pharmacological mechanisms. A comprehensive literature search up to 2024 was conducted using major scientific databases to identify studies reporting hepatoprotective phytochemicals from mangrove plant species. A total of 48 bioactive metabolites belonging to diverse chemical classes, including terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, quinones, polysaccharides, glycosides, lignans, peptides, and fatty acids, were identified from 15 mangrove species. These metabolites exhibit hepatoprotective effects by mitigating oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and fibrosis, which are key pathological processes involved in liver injury. Mechanistically, many metabolites regulate important molecular pathways such as nuclear factor kappa–light‐chain‐enhancer of activated B (NF‐κB), mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK), and nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2), while also normalizing liver biomarkers including alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and gamma‐glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). Overall, mangrove plant species of the Sundarbans represent a promising natural source of hepatoprotective agents.