Hepatoprotective activity of Trianthema portulacastrum against lipopolysaccharide/ D-galactosamine- induced hepatotoxicity in mice

Protective activity of T portulacastrum against LPS/ D-GalN- induced hepatotoxicity

Abstract

D-Galactosamine (D-GalN) is a well-established hepatotoxic agent, whereas lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a bacterial endotoxin; and both in a combination induces the liver damage, which is similar to a human hepatic diseases. In this study, the hepatoprotective activity of Trianthema portulacastrum (T. Portulacastrum) was evaluated against D-galactosamine in presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS/D-GalN)- induced hepatotoxicity using Swiss albino mice. LPS/D-GalN treatment elevated the liver marker enzymes. The combined action of LPS/D-GalN decreased the production of antioxidants  such as reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and increase in the malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) formation. Pre-treatment with T. portulacastrum (TP) extract showed dose dependently attenuated liver marker enzymes, increased GSH content, upregulated enzymatic activities of antioxidants in liver, decreased MDA and NO formation. The results also revealed that LPS/D-GalN-treatment increased the inflammation as observed through neutrophil infiltrations and increased the formation of sinusoids as evidenced from the histopathological studies of liver tissue and the TP extract pre-treatment mitigated the neutrophil infiltration and sinusoids formation dose dependently.