Abstract:
Acetamenophen (paracetamol) is one o f the most commonly used and recommended non prescription analgesic and antipyretic medication. It is frequently consumed and its indiscriminate ingestion can lead to poisoning and potentially fa ta l hepatotoxicity. Corriandrum sativum uKottamalli ”, the commonly known medicinal plant is used against acute and chronic congestion o f the liver and jaundice by the traditional medical practitioners in Sri Lanka. The objective o f the present study is to evaluate the potency o f Corriandrum against paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity in mice and to compare the effect with the known antidote, Nacetyl cysteine. Twenty male, ICR mice (30-35 g body weight) were assigned to group. Hepatotoxicity was induced by the administration o f a single oral dose ofparacetamol (300 mg k g 1 in saline) after a 16 h fast. An aqueous extract o f the whole plant (0.9 g/kg) was used on a pre and post-treatment basis. Pretreatm ent w ith C orriandrum reduced the serum alanine am inotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase by 42.41, 44.29 and 40.38 percent respectively while the post-treatment reduced the same by 48.27, 62.29 and 4.24 percent respectively. The reduced glutathione level was also increased in the plant treated groups but a significant improvement was observed only in the pre treated group, 4 h after the adm inistration o f paracetam ol. A histopathological assessment o f the liver damage was also conducted in parallel to the biochemical analysis. Histopathologically, an improvement in tHe liver cell architecture was observed in both treatment regimes, post treatment being better than the pre treatment. Although the extent o f protection was not as good as N-acetyl cysteine, the known antidote, Corriandrum also protected the liver against paracetamol poisoning. In paracetamol overdose, concentration o f the toxic metabolite, N-acetyl parabenzo-quinone imine (NAPQI) increases, which can cause covalent binding, oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and confluent necrosis in the liver. Results from the present study indicated that under the present experimental conditions Corriandrum sativum possess a hepatoprotective and an antioxidative effect against paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity.
