Abstract:
Management of liver diseases with plant extracts has been in the traditional medicinal practice in Sri
Lanka for centuries. However, scientific evidences on the beneficial effects of }sbeckia octondro are
lacking. The present study was designed to determine the hepatoprotective activity of crude extracts of O.
octandra against Thioacetamide [TAA) induced liver damage in Wistar rats. Five months old 15 male
wistar rats were treated in 5 groups [1-5; n=3 each group); 1) control group; distilled water [0.5ml/rat,
orally)2) TAA in saline (100 mC/kCbw, intraperitoneailyJ,3J TAAwith crude extract [CE) of 0. octandra
leaves [0.5 g DM/kg BW, orally), 4J CE [0.5 g DM/kg BW, oraily], 5) saline [0.Sml/rat, intraperitoneally).
Treatments were administered twice a week up to five weeks, after one month of adaptation period. Body
weights were measured twice a week. Blood samples and liver tissues were collected at the end. TAA only treated group showed the lowest [p<0.05J body weight gain compared with the other four groups.
Moreover, the TAA only treated group showed the significantly highest liver index (p<0.05). Both Alanine
aminotransferase and Aspartate aminotransferase values,were significant [p<0.05J in TAA only treated
group than all other four groups. Furthermore, signilicantly low lymphocytes and high neutrophils
percentages were observed in TAA only treated group [p<0.05]. There was no any significant different
between the control group and the TAA+ CE treated group for all the parameters. Livers from the TAA
only treated group showed gross anatomical variations (surface roughness and discolorationl than the
only treated mice [Group 3]. In conclusion, 0. octandra crude extract demonstrated a possible
hepatoprotective effects against TAA induced liver damage warranting further investigations.
