ABSTRACT:
Background: Liver diseases remain one of the serious health problems that effects considerable number of people in the world. In the absence of reliable liver protective drugs in allopathic medical practices. Herbs play important role in the management of various liver disorders. Aims: To investigate the hepatoprotective activity of aqueous extract of leaves of Saccharum officinarum belonging to family Gramineae against rifampicin induced liver damage in albino rats. Materials and Methods: Hepatotoxicity was induced in albino rats by oral administration of rifampicin (1 g/kg b.w for 10 days).The aqueous extracts of leaves of S. officinarum was administered to the experimental animals at two selected doses (200 and 400 mg/kg) for 10 days. The hepatoprotective activity of aqueous extracts was evaluated by the liver function marker enzymes in serum as, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alkaline Phosphatase ALP, Total Bilirubin, Liver weight and by histopathological studies. Statistical analysis: The results were calculated using Dunnet ‘t’ test. The results were found to be highly significant p<0.001. Results: Elevated levels of liver function marker enzymes in serum following rifampicin induction were significantly lowered in pretreatment with aqueous leaves extract of Saccharum officinarum The higher dose of the extract (400 mg/kg, p.o) prevented the increase in liver weight when compared to hepatotoxin treated group, while the lower dose was less effective . The (400 mg/kg po) of S. officinarum aqueous leaves extracts was found to be more effective than (200 mg/kg po). Conclusion: Thus the present study suggests that the oral administration of aqueous extract of S. officinarum leaves (200 and 400 mg/kg) significantly possesses good hepatoprotective activity.