Hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities of aqueous extract of <i>Moringa oleifera</i> flower on ccl4 -induced toxicity in rats

Abstract

Liver disorders constitute part of health problems in developing countries, and available chemo-preventive drugs against liver diseases are costly and less effective. Moringa oleifera contains high concentrations of four natural dietary antioxidants: vitamins A, C, E and phenolics. This study was therefore carried out to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of aqueous extract of M. oleifera flower on carbon tetrachloride (CCl )-induced 4 hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. Twenty five (25) male rats were randomly distributed into five groups. Group A (control) received distilled water, while groups B-E received 1.5 ml/kg b.w. of CCl followed by 1 ml of distilled 4 water, 62.5, 125 and 250 mg/kg b.w of aqueous extract of M. oleifera flower (AEMOF) respectively. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of rats administered 1.5 ml/kg body weight of carbon tetrachloride, but untreated increased significantly (p < 0.05) when compared with the control. There was no significant difference (p ˃ 0.05) in liver ALP activity of rats administered 125 and 250 mg/kg b.w, of aqueous extract of M. oleifera flower when compared with the control. Similarly, there were no significant differences in both serum and liver alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities of rats administered 125 and 250 mg/kg b.w of aqueous extract of M. oleifera flower relative to the control. This observation suggests that the hepatoprotective activity of aqueous extract of M. oleifera flower may be due to the prevention of leakage of intracellular enzymes of the hepatocyte by stabilizing its membrane. Furthermore, liver superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activities of rats treated with 250 mg/kg b.w. of aqueous extract of M. oleifera flower were not significantly (p ˃ 0.05) different from the control. Histopathological examinations of the tissues from the experimental rats clearly supported the biochemical findings. Results from this study strongly indicate that aqueous extract of M. oleifera flower possesses remarkable hepatoprotective potential underlining its ability to prevent and reverse CCl -induced liver injury in experimental animals.

Keywords: Moringa oleifera flower, Carbon tetrachloride, Hepatotoxicity, Antioxidants, Lipid peroxidation