Abstract

The study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of pre-treatment with ethanolic extract of leaves of Rhododendron arboreumagainst carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rat model. Liver damage was induced in experimental animals by administering CCl₄. The ethanolic extract of R.  arboreum (40, 60 and 100 mg/kg, po) was given for five days. Silymarin (100 mg/kg, po) was given as the reference drug. Hepatoprotective effect was studied by assaying the activities of serum marker enzymes like SGPT, SGOT, ALP, direct and total bilirubin, triglycerides, cholesterol and estimation of ascorbic acid in urine. The activities of all the marker enzymes registered a significant elevation in CCl₄treated rats, which were significantly recovered towards an almost normal level in animals co-administered with ethanolic extract of leaves of R. arboreum at a dose of 60 and 100 mg/kg. Ethanolic extract of leaves of R. arboreum prevented decrease in the excretion of ascorbic acid in CCl₄induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Histopathological analysis confirmed the biochemical investigations. The results indicate that leaves of R. arboreumpossess hepatoprotective property possibly because of its reported anti-oxidant activity. This property may be attributed to the quercetin related flavonoids, saponins and phenolic compounds present in the leaves of R. arboreum.   

Key words: Hepatoprotective, Rhododendron arboreum, ascorbic acid, carbon tetrachloride, flavanoids