Cyphostemma digitatum (Vitaceae) is a perennial, climbing, succulent undershrub with compound fleshy leaves and tendrils. The plant is used mainly as a food flavoring, but it is also a main constituent of traditiona...Cyphostemma digitatum (Vitaceae) is a perennial, climbing, succulent undershrub with compound fleshy leaves and tendrils. The plant is used mainly as a food flavoring, but it is also a main constituent of traditional Yemeni soup (Marak). Besides that, it has been described to be used as a medicinal plant. The aim of this work was to study the hepatoprotective effect of the aqueous extract of C. digitatum against CCl4-induced liver injury in Guinea pigs. Animals were divided into four groups. Group I, served as normal control. Group II received 2 mL CCl4/kg b.w. diluted with olive oil, at 1:1 ratio on day 11. Group III (test group) was pre-treated orally with 100 mg/kg b.w. aqueous leaves extract of C. digitatum for 10 days followed by subcutaneous injection of CC14 (2 mL/kg b.w.), once on day 11. Group IV were orally given Liv-52 (100 mg/kg b.w.) once daily for 10 days followed by subcutaneous injection of CC14. Our results show that, the activity of serum hepatic enzymes (alanine aminotranferase (ALT), aspartate aminotranferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)) were significantly elevated in Guinea pigs treated with CCl4, while both the C. digitatum extract and Liv-52 reduced significantly these enzymes activity. Also, the levels of glucose, urea, cholesterol and triglycerides were decreased when compared with intoxicated control. Histopathological examination of intoxicated animals showed fatty changes, inflammation and necrosis indicating liver damage, while the animals received C. digitatum or Liv-52 showed less pathological effects or normal liver when compared to animals treated with CC14 alone. Biochemical and histological results confirm the hepatoprotective effect of aqueous extract of C. digitatum.展开更多
文摘Cyphostemma digitatum (Vitaceae) is a perennial, climbing, succulent undershrub with compound fleshy leaves and tendrils. The plant is used mainly as a food flavoring, but it is also a main constituent of traditional Yemeni soup (Marak). Besides that, it has been described to be used as a medicinal plant. The aim of this work was to study the hepatoprotective effect of the aqueous extract of C. digitatum against CCl4-induced liver injury in Guinea pigs. Animals were divided into four groups. Group I, served as normal control. Group II received 2 mL CCl4/kg b.w. diluted with olive oil, at 1:1 ratio on day 11. Group III (test group) was pre-treated orally with 100 mg/kg b.w. aqueous leaves extract of C. digitatum for 10 days followed by subcutaneous injection of CC14 (2 mL/kg b.w.), once on day 11. Group IV were orally given Liv-52 (100 mg/kg b.w.) once daily for 10 days followed by subcutaneous injection of CC14. Our results show that, the activity of serum hepatic enzymes (alanine aminotranferase (ALT), aspartate aminotranferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)) were significantly elevated in Guinea pigs treated with CCl4, while both the C. digitatum extract and Liv-52 reduced significantly these enzymes activity. Also, the levels of glucose, urea, cholesterol and triglycerides were decreased when compared with intoxicated control. Histopathological examination of intoxicated animals showed fatty changes, inflammation and necrosis indicating liver damage, while the animals received C. digitatum or Liv-52 showed less pathological effects or normal liver when compared to animals treated with CC14 alone. Biochemical and histological results confirm the hepatoprotective effect of aqueous extract of C. digitatum.