RESUMO
In folk medicine, there are many herbal preparations used for their hepatoprotective activities. One of the most common recipes consists of equal parts [w/w] of decoction of [10% concentration]: Peumus boldus [leaves], Cichorium intybus [root] and Nigella sativa [seed] [Recipe 1]. Glycyrrhiza labell rhizome [root] replaced Cichorium intybus in [Recipe 2] or added to the Recipe 2 to form [Recipe 3]. Three groups of normal albino rats were orally administered 1.5 ml / 100 g of Recipe 1 [group 1], Recipe 2 [group 2] or Recipe 3 [group3] and the control group [group 4] was given 1.5 ml/ 100 g distilled water daily for 30 successive days. Results for normal groups of rats revealed that Recipe 1, Recipe 2 and Recipe 3 decreased plasma gamma-glutamyl transferase [GGT]: by -6.1, -26.7, -31.5%; ALT: by-3.8,-13.2, 17.6%; AST: by-5.9,-6.8-21.5%; triglycerides: by 1.8, 0, -13%; cholesterol: by -2.4, -1.2, -1.9% and, increased sleeping time: by 0.5, 1.4 and -0.9%, respectively, vs. control values. Second set of experiments, three groups of carbon tetrachloride-hepatic damaged rats were given the three recipes in the same above mentioned oral doses 2 weeks before carbon tetrachloride and continued for another 2 weeks after induction of the hepatic damage. A fourth group received CC14 for 4 weeks and served as control. The results indicated that there were significant decreases in GGT: [-70, -74.5, -82.0%]; ALT: [-30.1, -36.8, - 49.0%]; AST: [-9.9, -33.3, -43.8%]; triglycerides: [-11.8, -10.5, -17.0%]; cholesterol: [-17.4, -16.4, -24.4%] and sleeping time: [-24.0, -25.1, -37.9%], respectively, vs. carbon tetrachloride-hepatic damaged rats. Histopatholgical study revealed that the three recipes exhibited greater hepatoprotective effects in CCl[4]-induced liver injury by preventing development of hepatic lesions, including liver centrilobular inflammation, cell necrosis, fatty change, ballooning degeneration as compared to the 4[th] control group CCl[4]- intoxication. Also there was an improvement of hepatocytes- DNA contents. The modified recipe 3 was found to be more potent than recipe 1 or 2