Abstract
Alhagi maurorum (camel thorn plant) is a promising medicinal plant due to the presence of flavonoids and phenolic compounds as major contents of its constituents. This study was aimed to investigate the hepatoprotective effect of oral administration of alcoholic extract of Alhagi maurorum against CCl4-induced liver injury in rats after 4 weeks of treatment on serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), lipoprotein fraction, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP); total protein (TP),albumin, total bilirubin (TBil) and oxidative stress markers such as glutathione (GSH), Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) were determined. Histopathological examination of liver was also performed .Forty two adult male (Sprague-Dawley strain) weighting 200+5 g were divided into six equal groups as follows: group1: negative control group, group 2: positive control (CCl4) group injected subcutaneously by a single dose of CCL4 (2 ml/kg b.wt) at the last day of the experiment, group 3: rats treated with standard drug Silymarin (200 mg/kg b.wt) once daily for 4weeks prior a single subcutaneous injection of CCL4 (2 ml/kg b.wt.) and groups (4), (5) and (6) were orally administered Alhagi maurorum alcoholic extract at doses of (200, 400 and 600) mg/kg b.wt once daily for 4 weeks prior a single subcutaneous injection of CCL4 (2 ml/kg b.wt.) to induce experimental hepatotoxicity.The results showed that oral administration of Alhagi maurorum alcoholic extract in a concentrations of 600 mg/kg b.wt to rats for 4 weeks prior inducing hepatotoxicity by CCl4 significantly improved TC, TG, lipoprotein fractions, decreased the elevated serum levels of liver enzymes (AST, ALT and ALP), total bilirubin and increased serum total protein when compared to the control positive group. Oxidative stress markers (MDA, GSH, GPx, SOD and CAT) were significantly improved as compared to the control positive group. Histopathological examination of liver section of rats orally given Alhagi maurorum alcoholic extract prior inducing hepatotoxicity by CCl4 showed alleviation of histological degeneration changes in protected groups compared to control positive group. It is concluded that Alhagi maurorum alcoholic extract has high hypolipidemic, hepatoprotective effect and antioxidant effects in CCl4-intoxicated rats.