3. Antihepatotoxic efficacy of Indigofera tinctoria (Linn.) on paracetamol induced liver damage in rats

The antihepatotoxic efficacy of aqueous extract of Indigofera tinctoria (250, 500 mg/kg body weight) and silymarin were investigated against paracetamol induced liver damage in rats. Paracetamol at the dose of 3 g/kg body weight orally one day only produced liver damage in rats as manifested by the significant rise in serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), - glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), bilirubin, cholesterol and decrease the protein level compared to control. Treatment of rats with Indigofera tinctoria (250, 500 mg/kg body weight) and silymarin (25 mg/kg body weight) once daily for twenty eight days to paracetamol treated rats shows lowered significantly the afore mentioned clinical parameter where as protein level increased. Further more, liver tissues were processed for histopathologial observation. The extract alone treated rats did not adversely affect the serum biochemical and histopathologial observation. The antihepatotoxic efficacies of the Indigofera tinctoria extracts were reported to be significant.