Jose Jurel M. Nuevo | Joseph Joy G. Banzon
Discipline: Health, Veterinary Medicine
Solanum melongena (eggplant) is a member of Solanecea, it contains flavanoids which acts as an antioxidant and helps to prevent diseases and block the formation of free radicals. The methanolic extract of peels of Solanum melongena (eggplant) at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight per oral was studied for hepatoprotective effect using carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage in Rattus norvegicus of Wistar strain albino rats. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is a well known hepatotoxin and exposure to this chemical is known to induce oxidative stress and cause liver injury by the formation of free radicals. Methanolic extract showed significant (p<0.05) hepatoprotective effect by lowering the serum levels of various biochemical parameters such as serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in the selected model. These biochemical observations were in turn confirmed by histopathological examinations of liver sections and are comparable with the standard hepatoprotective drug Silymarin (100 mg/kg body weight) which served as a positive control.
The overall experimental results suggest that the biologically active phytochemical constituents such as flavanoids present in the methanolic extract of Solanum melongena, may be responsible for the significant hepatoprotective activity and the results substantiate the use of Solanum melongena as a hepatoprotective agent.
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